Forced Secrets
by Andil
Summary: What happens when two of the bitterest of enemies are forced to work together? CHAP 8 FINALLY UP!
1. Default Chapter

Forced Secrets

Disclaimer:  None of the characters in this story belong to me.  Don't sue me; I am just 'borrowing' them…

A/N:  Argh.  There are times I really hate ff.net.  really I do.  They deleted this story because I had the 'bright' idea to say that I was going to put up a new chapter in a few days.  Figures.  So now I have to repost it all.  Wahh, I lost my reviews!!!!  I am just happy that I keep all of this on my computer.  Anyways, all of you who might be reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoy this, and please review!

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Chapter 1 – The Shared class 

            This day was starting just like every other day typically did at Hogwarts School for witchcraft and wizardry.  He would be going to potions with professor Snape, manipulating his 'minions' and his team would have the field for quidditch practice later on.  Today would be a good day.  That is, if he didn't have to be bothered with a shared class with Griffendor.  His face fell into a sneer as he bitterly thought of it.  He despised that entire house with an extreme passion.  A very deep, DEEP passion.  The very thought of those Weasleys made his stomach lurch in disgust.  Not to mention that mudblood that hung out with that damned Potter.  It was unfair, she was so smart, and probably the most talented witch in the school; just looking at her you would never guess what she really was.  A big, filthy, annoying mudblood… Although, in his personal opinion she was more worthy the title of witch than any of those damned Weasley's.

            He scowled again, this time at the direction his own thoughts were taking him.  He shook his head to clear them.  She was a Griffendor, she was a mudblood, filthy, did not deserve the title of witch, she looked nice that one time he had seen her with her hair up…  Ok, that wasn't helping any.  He sighed, leaning back into the cushioned seat of the common room as he fiddled with the remembrall that he had 'found' just a few days earlier near Longbottom's chair when he goofed up another one of his spells and was wheeled of to the hospital wing.  He never even realized that it was missing either… He smirked to himself at the thought.  That Longbottom was such a heel, it was far too easy to pick on him.  Sometimes it became a bit too boring though.  He sighed lightly and pocketed the stupid thing.  He went then to his bed and picked up his new broom, snickering that he now had the latest model of the nimbus line – and he would most definitely outshine that blasted Harry Potter.  He scowled, he didn't necessarily hate him (which he would never, NEVER let anyone in on that little secret) In fact he sort of admired him.  But Harry was most definitely his archrival, and it would be nice to beat him at least once.  He grabbed the handle of the broom tightly as he went towards the quidditch field for practice.

            Practice went relatively quick that day, and he quickly packed up his broom and grabbed his books for potions, and headed towards class.  He smiled lightly as he took his seat in the front row of the class.  He was Professor Snape's preferred student, and used him often as an example of how to do things right.  He folded his hands in together and waited for the rest of the class to come.  He was always early to this class.  There were mostly Hufflepuff's and Ravenclaw's in this in particular class, but there were once Griffendor and three from Slytherin, including him, and two guesses as to who the others were.  None other than Crabbe and Goyle.  Soon the class filled, and just as the class began, Snape swiftly entered the room, and looked at Draco before taking his stand behind the podium which he taught class from.  Snape cleared his throat. 

            "Before I begin this class, I have an announcement to make."  He paused, scanning the room with his piercing gaze as if daring any of his students not to pay attention then continued on with what he was about to say.  "I regret to inform those who are from my won house, Mr. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and those from Griffendor, Ms. Granger, are to be released from class today to go to their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so as to get a head start."  He turned his cold gaze towards Hermione.  "You are dismissed." He hissed out before returning his attentions to the rest of the class.  Draco stood and nodded his head to the door.

            "Crabbe, Goyle, come on, let's go."  He waited a moment as they slowly bumbled up out of their seats.  "Come on!"  He started to head towards the door, and just before he exited the class, he looked behind him to the mudblood confidently holder her huge stack of books and scowled at her, then quickly turned out to head towards his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, followed by his two minions, copying the same scowl as their 'leader'.

            Hermione cringed.  She hated being the only one from Griffendor in this class, especially since she had to share it with the once person she hated most at the school.  Draco Malfoy.  But alas, she being who she was, once again had to overload her schedule to its fullest potential, and this was the only time she would have the ability to actually take potions.  So this being the only time she could take it, she had to swallow her disgust towards Draco Malfoy and take the class, as she couldn't fathom not completely over-exceeding herself.  At times she almost hated the fact that she had to turn in the time turner she had used in her third year.  She sighed to herself and exited the classroom, wondering why the tow housed had to gather together today for this class; after all, they hadn't had the classes together like that for so long.  At least she would be able to see Ron and Harry during this class.  At least Ron would sit to where she wouldn't have to see the scowls and disgusted glared from Draco.  The way he looked at her sometimes, so superior and disgusted by her, and sometimes something else she couldn't quite put a finger on, but to say the least, was a bit disturbing.  After a moment, she turned into the Dark Arts room, and quickly took her seat next to Ron.  She shot him a quick smile.

            "Hi Ron."  He shot her back a half-grin that he was famous for, and a questioning look.

            "Hey Hermione." He paused.  "Um, do you know why it is we are here?"  Hermione frowned at the question, pursing her brows trying to figure out an answer.  When none would come to her, she sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

            "I'm not sure exactly why they have the classes like this again…" her face became grimly serious "But whatever it is, I'm sure that it is very important."  She tapped her pen impatiently as she looked behind her to the door, and then back to Ron.  " By the way, where is Harry?"  Ron just shrugged.

            "I dunno.  He will be here soon, I'm sure of it."  She sighed, and then quickly leaned back to be hidden behind Ron as she noticed a most definite glare coming from Draco who, as usual, was being surrounded by his two minions.  "Bloody hell, Malfoy can't even be silent, half across the room without trying to make himself look superior to us!"  Ron wore a disgusted look on his face as he whispered the last to Hermione.  Obviously, he noticed the glare.  Once again she sighed, nodding in agreement.

            "I know; he is SO full of himself."

            Draco watched them silently.  Talking, laughing, telling jokes…  I just wasn't fair.  No one ever came around him for fun.  He had no friends, not really.  He did have Crabbe and Goyle, but they were blockheads, and they had followed him around since before they even started at Hogwarts.  Everyone else never really got very close to him.  Thy treated him with pleasantries, but never wanted to be friends.  They were always afraid of his father or perhaps thought that he was just like him.  He frowned and shifted his gaze to the front of the room.  Whatever it was that this class was being held for, he would have to outdo Potter again.  He felt the sly smile return to his face.  The one enjoyment out of his pathetic life, his continuous attempt to outdo the all-famous Harry Potter, and to tantalize him of course.  What fun would it be if he just sat on the side lines all the time while those three got to have all the fun? Of coarse he HAD gotten himself in trouble for it once or twice, but who cared?  His rivalry with Potter was probably the closest thing to friendship that he had… He looked back over to them.  Perfect Potter then came in, walked to the seat the other side of Hermione, and sat down.  He set his jaw and scowled at the happy looking threesome as Harry joined into their conversation.

            Harry smiled his usual toothy grin at them and shrugged at them when they gave him questioning glances.  "Harry, what took you so long?"  Harry smiled again at Hermione's question, and then started to laugh.

            "Fan club found me."  He shrugged again, and Ron rolled his eyes.

            "Ohhh..." Hermione stifled a giggle, thinking of his fan club.  The founders of it were none other than Collin Creevey and Ron's own sister, Ginny.  They were practically obsessed with him, and had been since their first year.  Harry leaned past Hermione, over to Ron.

            "Oh, Ron, did you know that your sister seems to be seeing Collin now?"  He paused a moment before adding, "Thought you might want to know."  Ron rolled his eyes again.

            "Yah, she told me.  Seems they have something major in common."  Ron nearly laughed outright at that, seeing what it was they had in common.  Harry just looked at him, bewildered to what that little something actually was.

            "Oh, what's that?"  This comment sent both Ron and Hermione into an uncontrolled laughing fit, for to them, the answer was all too obvious.  Hermione was the first to recover.

            "Honestly Harry, you mean to tell me you don't know?"  He shook his head no, causing Hermione to sigh.  "You Harry, it is YOU that they have in common.  They are both completely obsessed."

            "Hermione's right, Harry."  Ron finally stopped laughing and sighed.  "You have no idea how sick we are at home of hearing about all the events and wonders of your life.  Sometimes I end up arguing with her about how accurate my memories are of the things we did early on."  Harry stuttered, starting to turn crimson.

            "Oh..." Just then the door to the room slammed open, as yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher grumpily entered the room, stormed to the front of the room and slammed the book he had in his hand down onto the desk.  He glared at the class as if they were all at fault for the murder of someone close to him.  Then the look left, and he gave the happiest, award-winning smile ever seen before by any of the students in the room.  It even compared to even Gilderoy Lockhart's, god forbid.

            "Good morning students!"  He nearly sang with pleasantries in his voice, earning him a few odd looks from the students.  " I **_suppose _**you are wondering why it is that in your sixth year, you once again are having a shared class between houses."  He paused, flicking a stray jet-black strand of hair from his lean and handsome face.  "But first, I probably should introduce myself.  I am Professor Lonsiel, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, it seems that **_I _was the only one willing to take this position."  He sighed waving his hand to the side as if brushing away the subject.  "Well anyways, back to the question you are all waiting for.  Why are you here for this class?  Well, actually it is a pretty simple reason really.  I will divide you all into groups of two, and you will need to use teamwork in order for you to accomplish your assignments."  He paused again, opening the book he placed in front of him, or rather, slammed.  "The first assignment will be relatively simple."  He looked up from the book with a sly grin crossing his face.  "But do not feel so comfortable with this just yet, my students, for it is **_I _**who will be picking your partners, and not yourselves.  Just as in real life, once you get out of school, you will be forced to deal with people who you do not necessarily agree with, and so will you find in this class.  I have only a list of names, as well as one or two suggestions."  He picks up a piece of paper from the book, "Here on this piece of paper.  It is done in alphabetical order, and only lists the class, which you have before this.  Your house is not listed."  A few gasps came from the students as he said the last.**

            "So for the names, starting with... Ron Weasley.  You will be paired with... Neville Longbottom.  Harry Potter..." He paused at the name, looking over his thin glasses at him momentarily.  "With Seamus Finnigan."  And so on, and so on, until he reached Hermione's name.  "Miss Hermione Granger, you are the top academic student of the Griffendor class.  I have been informed of this by Professor Snape, and with his suggestion, paired you with someone who, according to him, should have the same enthusiasm..." He dragged out the word, "as you.  So it will be the top academic student of Slytherin."  He paused dramatically.  "Draco Malfoy."

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A/N: Well, I hope that you enjoyed chapter one of this, don't worry there will be more to come, I already have about 10 chapters done… so…  PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! ***Begs***


	2. Research

Disclaimer:  No characters in this story belong to me.

A/N: Chapter 2, for your viewing pleasure.  More to come soon.  And as always, please review. 

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**Chapter 2: Research**

            Hermione cringed at the words.  She hated Draco Malfoy with a passion.  Now she was to be partnered with him, unfortunately.  She heaved a deep sigh.  "Oh no..."  Ron just looked at her sympathetically, saying nothing.

            "You have got to be kidding me."  He gave a nervous smile, slumping down into his chair.  Out of everyone in Griffendor, he just had to be, HAD to be, partnered up with the one person he tried his damnedest to avoid at all costs.  Hermione Granger, mudblood, and sexy head witch of the Griffendor house.  He groaned at his own stupid thoughts, as they were once again heading towards Hermione.  Stopping that would much harder now that he would have to work intimately with her.  He had to shake his head of that one, using a reference of Hermione in the same sentence with the word intimacy was not doing any type of wonders for his raging hormones.  Shaking him out of his current thoughts, Professor Lonsiel slammed his book shut, causing several students in the room to jump.

            He smiled sweetly at them, holing up something that resembled a bingo machine (the wire cage turner ones...) that was filled with folded sheets of paper.  "Now then, down to business.  Each group is to draw a sheet of paper for this... um... turner... muggle thing..." he cleared his throat.  "Each piece of paper includes a potion or spell, and a small bit about the potion, or spell upon it.  You will be required to do research for this project, as well as teamwork, teamwork, teamwork!"  he smiled amusedly at the group of now annoyed students.  You will spend today's class time researching this spell.  As some of them may be a bit difficult to find, or may be time consuming, I will expect the final outcome in three weeks time.  Now then shall we get started?"  He started to turn the bingo machine.

            Groups of students came up to the front to draw out a piece of paper from the revolving bin, and you could hear some gasps, moans, chuckles as well as an occasional sigh of relief as they opened the sheet they had drawn.  Hermione stayed seated, looking the exact opposite direction of Draco Malfoy, who was leaning back in his char, arms crossed an scowling angrily at the bingo machine as if it were at fault for making him work with the little mudblood from Griffendor.  Perhaps he should tell his father.  Perhaps.  "Draco Malfoy."  His thoughts were disrupted by the dark overtone of Professor Lonsiel's voice.  "Ms. Granger."  His voice took on an icy tone of annoyance.  "Please.  Draw.  Your.  Paper.  Now."  Lonsiel's mouth became an angry white line, and both Draco and Hermione jumped up to go and get their paper.  Draco scowled at Hermione, and she duplicated the look.  They both wanted to make it clear it was a forced and unhappy situation.  Feeling suddenly defiant, Hermione quickly reached her hand in and took a piece of paper before Draco could have a chance to.  "Ah, now then," he smiled, his voice back to being sing-songy, "If you would now all head to the library to start your projects."  His voice darkened some, "Go on now, shoo…"

             The class left the room then, followed by a very sluggish Draco and Hermione, who were being followed by Crabbe and Goyle.  Draco noticed this when they left the room, and they were temporarily stuck in the doorframe.  He groaned.  "Do you two blockheads always need to follow me?"  They looked at him dumbly.  "Never mind, I will make this more simple for you.  Go do your assignment. Alone."  Crabbe gave a funny look.

            "I can't read."

            "Then ask the librarian!  We ARE supposed to do this solely in our groups.  Unfortunately for me."  He shot a cold side-glance towards Hermione, who was ignoring him at the moment.  His two minions sighed and nodded, walking ahead of him reluctantly.  When they reached the library, Draco grabbed the first large cushioned seat he could find next to a table, and Hermione sat across form him, slowly taking the seat as he sprawled himself out.  "So, Granger, what does the paper say?"  She scowled at him a moment before she recomposed herself, then opened the sheet.

            "Diary's Milk Potion."  Draco raised his brows at the funny name, but kept silent.  Hermione continued.  "This potion forces the one who drinks it to keep silent about something, like keeping a secret in a diary, even if it is against ones will.  Look this up, and use it on each other.  Keep it simple and unrevealing, as I will need to know what it is to remove it.  Which is required for you to gain credit for this project.  Have fun, and talk to me later on the details."  Hermione rolled her eyes.  "Right…  Like that would ever happen."  They sat in silence for a moment before Draco let out an exasperated sigh.

            "Well?  Are we just going to sit here, or are we actually going to start looking for this thing?  The sooner we have this done, the sooner we will be out of each other's hair."  Although pretty, if she ever did anything to it…  He shook the thought angrily from his mind.  "And that, Granger, I think will suit us **both **just fine."  Hermione turned her gaze to him sharply.

            "Whatever, Malfoy.  I will go grab a few books."  She stood, heading towards the restricted section as she noticed out of the corner of her eye, Draco get up and head toward the potions and spells section of the library.  She groaned, at least the sow off was actually doing something.  Oh why her, out of all the people of the entire Slytherin house, why was it Draco, the one, the only, evil conniving bastard Draco Malfoy.  She despised him, hated him, and really wanted to curse him to infinity.  But alas, once again she could not.  She picked up about ten different humongous books that looked promising, and then started to head back to the table where the two had sat earlier.  She notice Malfoy was back, and had already sorted out about fifteen books him self.  He lifted his cold and piecing gaze to her and sneered.

            "What took you so long Granger, difficulties sorting through books?  Or were you perhaps trying to find all the answers before you came back to try and make me look like a dunce?"  She scowled at him, her anger starting to flare.

            "No, I… I…" She started to stutter, trying to figure out the right wording to a comeback she could not think of as well.

            "Well then, Granger, if it hurts your head to think about it, you don't have to answer.  Your mudblood brain of yours probably can't process all the information that quickly…" He sounded like he was quoting a fact, and cackled.  (Have you ever noticed in movies all the good guys laugh and all the bad ones cackle in the subtitles?  Strange… Well anyways, back to the story.)  Hermione tried to keep a straight face, but it faltered some as she looked into his laughing eyes.

            "Would you mind holding you insults until AFTER were are done studying?"  She gritted her teeth, slightly angry, slightly hurt.  She wished just once, only once, that he would leave her be about her muggle parentage.  It was unlikely though.  She grabbed the first book on the top of the pile and started to flip though it, looking for the Diary's Milk Potion.  She looked up long enough to notice that her 'partner' had decided to leaver her be and he was once again sprawled out in the large chair, ruffling though his books just as quickly as she.  Strange, she never figured him to be one for studying, but then, he was at the top of the Slytherin house academically.  She never seen him studying in the library, but then again, she never really looked for him there either.  She shrugged it off and continued flipping.

            Damned bloody girl.  How dare she throw his own joke back into his face like that?  Not that he didn't deserve it, but still.  She never did that before, and he had called her a mudblood for at least four years now.  Not that it was a lying insult; she WAS a mudblood, what was the big deal of it anyways?  He flipped through the pages of 'Impregnable Spells and Potions' with the small subtitle of 'For People Who Have Too Much Time' which was why it was on the regular shelves.  No one ever bothered with them, but they were interesting to read about.  Hopefully it wasn't in this, he had just grabbed it off the shelf so that he could get back before the cook worm that would most likely only grab the ones that looked like they may be useful.  He flipped more though the book, Hopping shoes, Water Barriers, , Voice changing, Diary's Milk, Wart Banishing…  Wait a second…  He went back to the page with Diary's Milk as header.  Believe it or not, he was almost excited to find it.  "Hermione I think I've found something."  

            She groaned, looking up from her book.  Had he just called her Hermione?  How very odd of him.  "Yes?  What is it?"  She placed her finger in the book, making it act like a makeshift bookmark.  Damn him.

            "It says here that this potion was used to make people keep a secret against their will.  Mostly used by people working under cover, it was an easy way for them to go unnoticed if they were found.  It forces the drinker into complete silence anytime they try to reveal the spell.  There is a counter potion, but it is rarely used since it requires a third party who knows what the secret is, and must be administered by the one who first created the Diary's Milk.  This potion takes one week to brew, and although it seems simple enough, it…" Her paused, his eyes getting wide.  He turned to her, his eyes mentally burning holes in her as he remembered which book it was that he had found the potion in.  He had just found out WHY it was in the book with the subtitle of 'For People Who Have Too Much Time'.  Leave it to Hermione Granger, the evil little mudblood bookworm to find the most complicated spell available.  "Alright, you little mudblood, I honestly despise you.  And more off, I despise Professor Lonsiel for this bloody assignment, and listening to Snape's suggestion."  He glared at her, donning the most dangerous look he could muster.

            She glared back at him, but was completely and utterly confused as to what had set him off.  He was almost amiable only just a moment ago, and then out of the blue, yelled at her for no apparent reason.  "What?!"  He practically threw the book at her.

            "Read for yourself, little Miss I-WILL-GET-THE-SPELL-MYSELF Granger."  He slumped into his chair, crossing his arms and scowling at her.  He was so angry at that moment that one could practically fry an egg on his head.  "Fine mess YOU'VE made of things."  She turned the book to read it, and the farther she read, the more her jaw dropped.

            "I hate myself…" Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

            "I thought you might agree with me."  Hermione ignored his sneer.

            "This potion takes one week to brew, and although it seems simple enough, the reason it is never used, as well as the reason we call it 'time consuming' is due to the fact that neither the one who takes the potion, not the person who gives it, can go beyond twenty feet of the other.  It uses a small mind connection ingredient so that it can read the thought patterns of both and analyze the meaning of what is set for it.  After you drink the potion, it works immediately, but is effective only if within the others presence of twenty feet.  The longer in continuous adjacency during these first two weeks, the longer the distance effective.  And if never left at all during these weeks, then the spell is in full effect, making the secret forever kept, unless the potion is overridden."  She slammed the book shut.  Draco nearly growled at her.

            "This is going to be a long three weeks."

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	3. A New Revelation

Forced Secrets 

Disclaimer:  Once again, Harry Potter and the rest do not belong to me; they all belong to J. K. Rowling, and her wonderful imagination.  I just like to mess around with them when my best friend asks me to. J

A/N:  Sorry it took me so long for this chapter, I got a bit distracted by my homework.  College classes, I tell you.

Anyways, here is chap 3, and don't be afraid to review!

Oh, and in answer to the question, this fic got deleted because I put up an 'authors note' which is now banned by ff.net, so I have to repost it.

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Chapter 3:  A New Revelation 

            They wrote down the many ingredients for the concoction known as the 'Diary's Milk Potion', and split the ingredients to where he was getting the ingredients for the main potion, and she the side spell.  Hermione noticed an ingredient that looked rather odd within her list of many.  "That's strange, the side spell requires baby mandrake root.  I only thought that was used for de-petrifaction, I've never seen it used for anything else.  Especially not when it is still in its infant stages."  Draco really didn't feel like insulting her, for the first time in his life, in light of the extraordinarily bad news he just found out about their 'predicament'.  He sighed, continuing to write down the ingredients that he would pick up the next day.

            "It's rather simple, baby mandrake root powder is used to awaken the mind without distraction.  You know, a literal way to clear your mind."  He smirked at his own stupid joke and shrugged, never looking up from the paper and quill.  Hermione gave him an odd look, raised her eyebrows then lowered them in a quick enough fashion that he could not see.  He had told her what it was, surely, and that alone surprised her; but it was that other little fact that surprised her.  He was just simply stating a fact.  No stupid little mudblood, no aggravated short answer or sigh of annoyed disgust.  Just a plain and simple answer.  How very odd of him.

            "Oh... Thank you."  She eyed him nervously a moment, expecting some degradable comment from him as he mocked her, like he usually did.  Nothing came, and once again, very odd.  She finished her list down, which contained all the ingredients for the side-spell that was actually very complicated to spite the words in the book.  The liars, obviously they thought it funny to make any part of this spell SOUND anywhere near simple.  She  sighed.  How extremely immature of them...

            Draco looked up, slamming the book in the process, and then setting it aside so that he could check it out.  He stood, shooting her a look of pure, unadulterated hatred, then turned form her, picking up the book that needed to be checked out.  He spoke coldly, not bothering to turn his head to her as he did so.  "Granger, I will leave you to take of this."  He paused, "Oh, and we WILL meet again with Professor Lonsiel after dinner to 'discuss' whatever it is he needed to tell us."  With that he left, not giving her a chance to reply to him.  She let out all of her breath in an exasperated sigh.

            "Oo!  That dolt!  Who does he think he is?  Making me take care of all the books **HE **took as well as my own."  She growled angrily.  Damn that snaky Slytherin.  Why in the world did she have to be stuck with him for three weeks?  Three weeks!  She shivered at the thought, knowing that it was most likely that before the three weeks were up, one of them would probably be dead; and it probably would be Malfoy.  She really couldn't stand him, and his continuous insults.  She quickly gathered his books as well as her own, and then put them back into their original spots.  Groaning as she left the library, she headed back to the Griffendor common room, where she could see her two very, VERY good friends, Harry and Ron, waiting for her.  They looked at her sympathetically as she fell, then slouched into the chair between them, as if she had had a very long and tiresome day.  Which probably in both her and Malfoy's mind was true.  Ron then smiled brilliantly at her.

            "Well, did you slit his throat?"  Ron's eyes sparkled at the thought.  The mention of Malfoy's name suddenly left a sour taste in her mouth, the moronic git.  She felt the sudden urge to hex something.  Of coarse the only people she was close enough to do that to, was of coarse her two best friends.  She sighed in defeat, ah well, perhaps another time then.  She looked up to Ron, and shook her head 'no'.  

            "If he said anything...  Hermione, what happened?  You look rotten."  Harry frowned at her, his concern for her apparent by his facial expression.  Ron also looked at her with a similar look to his.

            "No... No, nothing bad from him - YET anyways."  She sighed and mysteriously found a way to slouch even further into the chair she was in.  "I can't believe that Snape of all people recommended us being together.  SNAPE!"

            "I know, it **_is _**really strange, isn't it?  I know he doesn't like us, and would do something like that to us just to be annoying; But what gets me, is that he paired you with the Slytherin boy wonder, Malfoy - his star and all perfect student.  Why would he torment him like that?  He of all people should know Draco can't stand you, the annoying know it all mudblood that you are."  Harry stopped himself at that point, his face scrunched up, almost looking pained.  "Sorry Hermione, no offense.  His words, not mine."  She smiled at him sweetly and started to sit back up in the chair.

            "I know it Harry, none taken.  I know what you mean though; he DOES seem to hate me the most out of us all.  I mean with you Harry, he is not all that rude to you anymore.  Well, he still has his moments, but they are not as often.  He just is always attempting to outdo you is all, I think, and Ron... um.."  She paused as she tumbled through her mind for something.  "Uh...  Well, I think he just pretends that you don't exist, and ignores you most of the time."  She paused again, shaking her head.  "Actually, never mind, I think he hates us both the same."  Ron nodded, showing his all-famous half grin, which was just as trademark as Malfoy's smirk.

            "I know.  I think the hatred between Malfoy and Weasley is genetic.  I've heard that my grandfather and Lucious Malfoy's father had a big falling out way before I was born, and fights in the generations before that."  He shrugged, "Yah, I just try to ignore him, although sometimes it's a bit hard to do.  He can be such an ass."  He looked at the time.  "Ah!  It's nearly time for dinner.  I'm famished!"  Hermione rolled her eyes.  His appetite had grown over the summer and he was already head and shoulders taller than her, and it seemed that he wouldn't stop at that anytime soon.  

            "Ron, your ALWAYS famished."  He shrugged, looking a tad guilty.  Suddenly, the thought of dinner triggered her memory of something just horrid. - What she had to do AFTER dinner.

            "Oh dear, I nearly forgot something."  She pouted, knowing she yet again had to 'deal' with that slimy no good Slytherin, Malfoy.  "I have to go see Professor Lonsiel after dinner tonight.  Malfoy and I have to 'discuss' something with him.  He left some things out on our project, I'm not sure what it is, but I hope it's something better then the assignment he gave us."  She sighed dramatically for the effect it gave.

            "How bad can it be?  Mine turned out to be really easy."  Harry nodded.

            "Mine too.  I think we can have it done in a week."  Hermione looked at them helplessly.

            "Mine is going to take all three weeks, and that is if we can get all the ingredients by tomorrow.  Besides, that's not even the half of it."  Harry and Ron gave her funny looks, suggesting that they would soon start playing 1001 questions with her.  "Please, not now.  I REALLY don't want to talk about it.  At least not right now."  Ron's face scrunched.

            "Why not?"  He then felt a small pain delivered by Harry's elbow in his side.

            "Ron!"  Ron looked at him dumbly.

            "What?"  Harry rolled his eyes at his clueless friend.

            "I wonder about you sometimes, you know that?"  Ron shrugged at him as Harry smirked at him.  Just then, Hermione stood and started to head for the door.

            "Well, I suppose we should start heading to the dining hall.  Are you two coming?"  She smiled and continued walking.  Ron practically jumped out of his chair and jogged next to Hermione, as Harry took a less energetic approach and slowly walked behind them.

            "You're right Hermione, we **should** do that."  Ron beamed, and Hermione shook her head at her gluttonous friend.

            Dinner went as usual, Ron ate two full servings; his, as well as half of Harry and Hermione's dinner as well.  After dinner, Ron and Harry headed back to the Griffendor common room after bidding Hermione good luck, and she left to see Professor Lonsiel.  She came to the room and cautiously opened the door.

            "Ah, I see you've finally -" There was a pause, and the voice dropped low.  "Oh, it's you..." Draco was sitting on the professor's desk, his legs crossed and sending Hermione a sour look.  She mimicked the look, and feigned happiness in her voice.

            "Nice to see you too, Malfoy."  He looked away.

            "Sarcasm doesn't suit you well, mudblood."  He sneered, damn him.  She slumped into one of the seats, and waited for the professor to come back to the room, deciding she would ignore him.  It seemed, he also came to the same conclusion.

            After about ten minutes of complete silence as they both looked in the exact opposite directions of the other, and pretending that the other person in the room did not exist, Professor Lonsiel finally decided to come into the room.  At which both impatient and somewhat angered students sharply turned their gazes to him.  He lifted his brow.  "Yes...  I there something that I could do for you?"  He paused, "The assignments ARE supposed to be done without my help you know."  Draco stood and menacingly inched towards him.

            "It was not my idea to come here, it was yours."  He quickly took the piece of paper with their assignment on it, and practically threw it into his face.  "Or do you forget your own assignments so quickly?"  He glared at the professor whose eyes just became wide.  Lonsiel's mouth opened and shut a few times as he was at a loss for words before his thoughts caught up to him, and then he cleared his throat.

            "Ah yes, that one..." He cleared his throat again and Draco raised his eyebrows while Hermione stood from the chair and inched in closer to hear them a bit better.  "I didn't believe that one would be drawn.  I just felt that I should put that one in there...  I can't even really imagine why I did now though...  Strange."  The professor shrugged indifferently and Draco gave the man an odd look.  "This is a very difficult spell."  Both Draco and Hermione gave him such a look, that when they say that looks can kill, theirs would have.

            "Yes, we've caught onto that much, DEAR professor.  I thought tat this first assignment was supposed to be relatively easy.  So why in the world did you put this potion in there?  Did you honestly think that there was no chance that it would be drawn?"  His voice was demanding, and his stance was challenging.

            "Actually, no."  Professor Lonsiel then regained his confident smirk, eerily reminding them for a moment of Professor Snape.  "You see, I had put a charm on the papers.  I am rather quite surprised at this, and I will have to take note to tell Professor Snape that he made a good match.  You ARE the most talented students in this year, if not the entire school."  Draco stood back, still looking superior, as usual.  Hermione was completely confused at what he was talking about, and though Draco was also totally lost, he wasn't about to let on to that, so it was Hermione who spoke.

            "I'm sorry, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."  Of course, she wasn't going to argue with him on the fact he called her probably the top student in the school.  But also saying that Malfoy was?  Ah well, what was the point in attempting to figure that one out?

            "It's quite simple really.  If you had caught on to what I was saying a moment ago, I put a charm on the papers.  You see, I really didn't want my students to get an assignment they thought too easy, or one that was far too difficult for their abilities.  It measured the abilities of both partners, and gave them the spell that was midrange in their basic abilities.  So when you stepped up, it matched the spell to your basic abilities as a team."  He pointedly set his eyes towards Draco.  "Which means you would've had the same results if either of you had drawn the paper.  I really put that one in there for fun - it really IS a difficult spell, even **I **would have some trouble with it."  He turned and sat behind his large desk, setting his elbows upon it and then entwining his fingers into a mesh as his face started to adorn a rather sinister grin.  "It says quite a lot on your part if your basic skills lie in the same difficulty as this potion..." His grin became even wider, much to both Hermione and Draco's misfortune.

            "Why do I have the odd feeling that there's more to this?"  Draco spoke this almost inaudibly.  Strangely, Lonsiel still seemed to hear it loud and clear.

            "Because there is my dear boy."  His grin faded, and he now contained the most serious aura that either of them had ever felt before.  They justifyingly looked at him apprehensively.  "You see, this spell... potion..." He paused, "This ASSIGNMENT, requires you to be within twenty feet of each other.  As such, I have gained permission to use a safe-guard that you will not violate the terms."

            "What do you mean?"  Hermione inched even closer now, afraid of his answer.  His eyes seemed to have an evil glint to them, and that was **never **a good sign.

            "Don't want you thinking you can just separate yourselves at any time during this... Not that I believe you would, but you don't look like you two get along all that very well."

            "Me?  Get along with Granger?"  He puffed out a short laugh, then his expression immediately changed to regret as he obviously spoke without thinking first, and for the first time in his life, shot an apologetic look to Hermione.  Blast him to hell, he really had to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

            "As I thought then."  Draco drew up the nerve to once again speak, after his accidental blurting from the last time he spoke.

            "So what is this 'safe-guard' of yours anyways?"  The professor's evil glint grew to encase his entire face with evil intent.  Oh dear, perhaps he shouldn't have asked...

            "A magical tether."

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A/N:  Well, there is chapter three... now I won't be murdered by my coworker... 0.o  I will just be hit a few times in the head with a rubber pretzel for it taking so long...  Ah well... 

Anyways, please review!!!!  I do actually read all of them!


	4. Tethered

A/N: Once again, I apologize for taking so long.  As this happens to be typed up already, you would think this would come up faster wouldn't you?  Anyway sorry it took so long, and hope that you enjoy the story…  

Disclaimer:  No.  I do not own the characters of this story.  Except for maybe Professor Lonsiel, who I happen to adore in this story.  He is just interesting don't you think?  ***Rambles on***

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**Chapter 4:  Tethered**

            Both Hermione and Draco's jaws dropped.  A tether?  Draco glared at Lonsiel.  How in the bloody hell could someone think a magical tether was anywhere NEAR ethical?  Especially with mudblood Granger!  This was it- his life was now over.  How could Professor Snape recommend pairing he and the mudblood together?  He would definitely have to speak to him about this.  It was completely unfair.

            "It is just like a regular tether, but without the annoying ropes, this one.  "He had returned to his happier tone of voice.  Damn him, he was strange.  "It is activated by a single word, and-"

            "But you can't use THAT one!"  Hermione cut him off.  She was about to burst; she would have preferred the magical tether that included the non-removable rope.  "It's permanent…" Her voice was pleading.  At this Draco's eyes became wide, as he too became frantic.  For once in his life, he agreed with her.

            "She's right, you CAN'T use that!"  The professor raised one of his hands to silence them.

            "It requires an attack spell to activate it.  It is an extremely rare occasion that a tether is activated by accident."  He paused, "EXTREMELY."  He smiled innocently at them.  "Besides, I've already gained permission for it."

            "But what about living quarters?"  She had to find a way out of this.

            "Taken care of."  He smirked at her, knowing that he took care of all the loose ends.

            "But what about-" She was about to ask about classes, but he interrupted.

            "Done."  Draco raised his eyebrows and smirked as something occurred to him.

            "Quidditch."   Professor Lonsiel opened his mouth to retort, but promptly shut it, suggesting he had not thought of that in particular aspect yet.  Hermione grinned to spite herself.  Malfoy had just come out with a good one.

            Draco smirked as his professor was for once at a loss for words.  It would be interesting to see him try and weasel his way out of this one, like he had with any of Granger's excuses.  It was a valid reason – after all he was the seeker for Slytherin, and how could he play if tethered within twenty feet of the little brainy mudblood?  "We will have to go and see Madame Hooch."  The professor then stood, and walked towards the door, turning his head to look over his shoulder towards them.  "Are you coming?"  As they both reflected the same feelings of sheer hatred and disdain for this new professor, they hung their heads and followed silently out the door and towards the place where they would find Madame Hooch.

            They found her sorting through brooms, and testing them.  She looked up to the overly cheery new professor of the Defense Against Dark Arts, and the two extremely gloomy students behind him.  Her golden eyes stared suspiciously at them a moment, then put down the broom she was holding, and clapped her hands free of dirt.  "Ah yes, just preparing the brooms for the first years.  Flying lessons start tomorrow."  She scanned over the three again.  "Is there something I can do for you?"

            "Actually yes, I have a slight problem."  She tilted her head.

            "I'm listening."

            "Yes, well, you see it unfortunately so happens that this boy behind me here seems to play quidditch, am I mistaken?"  At this, she crossed her arms.

            "Yes, he plays seeker for Slytherin.  What do you want?"  Her voice had gone immediately cold and strangely enough, Lonsiel smiled.  Draco knew she wouldn't let one of the main quidditch players just sit three and a half weeks of games out.

            "A solution, I don't want to take any of the players away from the game."  The edge left her eyes as he said this, making his smile even wider, if that was even possible.  "They have an assignment with a spell that requires a magical tether and I was won-" He didn't have a chance to finish as Madame Hooch interrupted.

            "Oh!  That is wonderful!"  She was beaming, and Draco sulked down, emitting an unconscious groan as he did so.  So much for Madame Hooch being a savior.  "I have been wanting to do something that would require a quidditch player, but none want to commit.  It requires too much 'practice' time on their part."  She shrugged, turning around.  "No worries then, I will talk to Professor Snape about a temporary replacement.  I'm SURE that he will agree with me, seeing that it will earn his house points for doing so…" She turned around and picked up the broom she had left earlier.  "Now then, if that is all you needed, I will try and finish these up by tomorrow then."  She motioned over the broom, "Up."  It flew to her hand and Professor Lonsiel turned back to the two now hopeless students.

            "Follow me."  Draco glared daggers at him, but complied as he started to leave.  Damn him, he just weaseled out of it.  He started to wonder what Madame Hooch had in mind.  How could he practice anything if he was tethered within twenty feet of Hermione?  He shrugged off his confusion as they once again arrived at the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom.  Once inside he took out a large key from his desk, and went into his office to the back of the room.  Hermione and Draco exchanged a quick look of impending doom as he once again reappeared into the room, carrying two rather sinister looking vials filled with a bubbling purple liquid.  Then the bastard smiled at them.  "Ah yes, now then, if you two will follow me…" He then proceeded out the door and once again they reluctantly followed him.  After many twists and turns, as well as a few staircases, they stopped somewhere on the 3rd floor.  They were standing in front of a painting that held the image of a teenage boy with dark blue hair leaning against a dragon.  The professor turned to it.  "Why hello there Dorian, I have a couple of students in need of your quarters here, if you don't mind."  The boy in the picture rolled his eyes.

            "You think I'd care?  Do you know how many people actually pass this way?  Next to none.  The rooms I keep are never used, they are 'too unorthodox' for the schools purposes.  It figures you know…  It can get rather boring around here."  He patted the dragon he was leaning against, which grumbled.  "The only company I've got is Old Fire here."  He laughed to himself, waving his hand as he noticed the odd looks he was receiving.  "Alright, alright, what is the password?"

            "Kamikaze."  At that the picture sung forward revealing a circular passageway.  Since it was a bit small, they ducked into it, and followed it until they reached the other side.  They stood there staring into the small quarters that were revealed.  There was something that resembled a common room, yet a bedroom.  To the right was a dark blue King size bed, next to a red chair and then two couches further down the room.  To the back of the room there was a table and a fireplace, the only window was above the large blue four-poster bed.  On the far left, there was a large wooden door.  "The space in these quarters are so small, the school usually doesn't use them for anything.  So they figured it a descent proposition when I told them of this."  He paused and pointed to the left.  "And that there is the door to your bathroom.  Now then…" He smiled that overly sweet smile of his to his very disgruntled student, and held out the vials he had picked up earlier in his office.  "Drink this up, each of you."  Draco sneered as he grabbed it, and the thought to 'just drop it' entered his mind.  "Don't even think about it."  He looked up at Professor Lonsiel, who was glaring at him, and downed the liquid.  Hermione then took hers from him and tipped it up as well.  They immediately gagged.  Fire erupted from their stomachs and then worked its way from their center to every vein and fiber of their bodies.  Draco stood hunched, leaning against the wall silently cursing at the painful burning sensation, and noticed that Hermione, who was clutching her stomach, had collapsed onto the floor, writhing in pain.  He wheezed and focused on Hermione in the attempt to ignore his own blinding pain.  It was getting worse.

            "Ah hell…" He closed his eyes.

            "Arania Exumae."  The pain suddenly ceased, nearly bringing him to his knees from the suddenness of the relief.  He slowly exhaled, and reopened his eyes to see Hermione standing, and glaring at the professor.  Suddenly his thoughts returned to him, Arania Exumae?  Wasn't that the spell that he heard Harry use every so often during duels?  How could it be used to lift the pain?  

            "What in the hell was that?"  He glared at the professor, damn him, that hurt like hell.  He would turn him in to his father if it weren't for the fact that it was Snape that suggested the pairing.  He really needed to talk to him about that…  Hermione turned towards him sharply.

            "The bloody sealing spell; that what it was."  Her voice had turned sharp and icy.  He raised his eyebrows, never knowing she could have such a tone to her voice.

            "Sealing spell?"  She nodded and refocused herself to the professor.

            "Yes, sealing spell.  It is the permanent spell that will reactivate the tether if used within twenty feet of us.  We're doomed."  She sighed loudly to prove her point.

            "What do you mean by doomed my dear?  What are the chances that this in particular spell would be used within twenty feet of you, WHILE you are within twenty feet of each other?  Anyways - no brooding, you have a two hour leeway.  The spell will activate when the two hours are up, and if you are close enough to each other, pull you to the respected twenty feet, or if you are further away, say your common rooms, then the pain will return tenfold until you are twenty feet away from each other.  I trust you will rather prefer each other's company?  I will leave you now to get your things and gather your thoughts.  I bid you goodnight."  With that he left the two extremely depressed students by themselves.  Draco hunched his shoulders down and groaned.

            "I hate my life."  Hermione simply nodded to his statement.  How could he set it at THAT spell?  Of all spells in the world he could have chosen from, it HAD to be Harry's current favorite dueling spell.  All it would have to take to reactivate it would be Draco pissing Harry off while she was near them.  Oh goody.  She turned back to the short and narrow passageway.

            "I'm going to get my things, I will return within an hour."   She quickly left through the passage as Draco sneered in her direction.  Damned stupid mudblood.  He sighed as he also left the small quarters to retrieve his own things.  There wasn't much of a choice in it really.  Be stuck with Granger, attempting to ignore her, and the fact she is bloody attractive for three and a half weeks, OR get away from her and go insanely senseless with burning pain.  Not really much of a choice, neither sounded pleasing but at least sticking with Granger wouldn't involve blinding pain.  Of course, both WOULD be torture to him.  Oh well… At least he wouldn't have to work by himself this time.  He sped-walked to the entrance of the Slytherin common room, muttered the password and slipped in, hopefully without notice.  Unfortunately, his faithful lapdogs and spy's were waiting for him.

            "Hey, where have you been?  Thought you would be back a bit earlier than this."  Goyle looked up from his rather sweet muffin he had swiped from the dining hall earlier that night then crossed his arms.  Draco scrunched his face in mock horror.

            "I don't need to account to **_you _**for everything I do.  Honestly Goyle, it is none of your business."  He paused then returned his facial expression to his more normal sneer.  "I was only out to se Professor Lonsiel, nothing important really.  I'm not going to explain it to you now, but I'm going to have to move out of our room for about a month, something to do with my assignment.  Now then, if you'll excuse me, I will go and get my things."  He turned to go to the room he shared with the two buffoons.

            "Can we go with you?"  Draco turned around sharply and glared at Crabbe, who was standing near the couch, his mouth now full.  Damned idiotic prying gluttons...

            "No!  You can't, you will stay here, and wait for me to return."  Goyle opened his mouth to say something.  "NO!"  He quickly turned from them and stalked off to their room.  Most likely they would follow - let them, the bastards.  He half hazardly threw most of his belongings into his trunk, and attempted to close it.  Of coarse, there was no such luck.

            "You can't go."  Oh yay, as he figured on, the dumb duo had arrived to harass him yet even more.

            "It's only for a month, and I can, and I WILL." He turned to them.  "Will you stand on this for me Crabbe?"

            "You're changing the subject Malfoy."  He glared at Goyle.

            "Never talk to me like that again, EVER."  Crabbe obediently stood on his trunk as he grabbed some 'Durahold Unfraying Rope' and tied together the ends of his trunk so that the lid would stay shut, well, sort of anyways.  "That should hold it, don't you think?"  Crabbe shrugged, and then nodded in reply.  "Thought so."  Crabbe just stood there, not making any move to get off of the trunk.  "Get off will you?" He complied as Draco sighed at the way he had to tell them what to do and when to do it all the time.  Goyle crossed his arms, standing in his way.

            "You KNOW why we can't let you."  Draco grabbed his trunk, and then picked up a cage housing an owl inside. 

            "It's for school, and assignment, and I'm going.  Do you want me to fall behind that stupid mudblood from Griffendor?"  He started to leave by walking around Goyle, but he grabbed Draco's arm as he started to pass.  Draco immediately yanked it away from him.

            "But..." Goyle pleaded.

            "Don't.  Touch.  Me.  Go to hell Goyle, I'm going.  Don't even attempt to stop me."  Goyle stepped away then, looking to the floor as Draco finished walking out.

            "It only took him a matter of five minutes to reach the entrance to the room.  "Kamikaze."  The boy in the painting slowly and sleepily looked over to him.

            "What..." Draco rolled his eyes and the boy smiled at him cheerfully.  "Oh!  It's you!"

            "Kamikaze."  The boy frowned at the irritated looking Draco.

            "Ok, Ok, if you're in THAT much of a hurry..." The painting then swung out and Draco quickly entered, that damned painting talked to bloody much.  Heaving the trunk and balancing a cage was a bit awkward as he had to duck in order to walk through the tunnel and sighed relief when he entered the room.  He just HAD to have beaten her there...  She wouldn't be back until she absolutely had to.  He smirked as he freed his trunk from the passage - the bed would belong to him.  His smirk immediately fell from his face though, as he seen a horribly familiar figure sitting cross-legged on the bed.

            "Granger?" She glared at him.

            "Who else?" She paused a moment waiting for a response from him, but he ignored the question.  "By the way, the bed is mine."

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A/N:  Please review.  I love reviews...  They make my day...   :)

*Begs on knees with big watery pleading eyes--- how can ya refuse that eh?*


	5. Stuck

Forced Secrets 

A/N:  Here is your promised chapter.  Meant to have it up sooner than this.  Sorry about that….  I get far too distracted, far too easily.. hehehe

As for the questions, the potion they drank WAS to initiate the tether, but it takes two hours before it sets fully.  Meaning when the two hours are up, no matter where they are in the building, they will be forcefully dragged into twenty feet of each other.  Hope that helps.

Disclaimer:  I own Harry.  I own Draco.  I own Snape.  They belong to me…  *is promptly shot in back with tranquilizer dart, and carted away by the authorities* Ok, so maybe they don't, but I love them to death anyways…

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Chapter 5:  Stuck 

Damn that insignificant muggle loving no good conniving mudblooded wench.  The reason he hurried back was for the bloody bed, yet she mysteriously beat him there, damn her…  "What do you MEAN the bed is yours?  Do you honestly think that I'm going to sleep on a couch for three and a half weeks?"  She just stared at him blankly, with those big, brown eyes.  They were so beautiful he wished he could look into them all day… He shook his head of the thoughts that were forcing themselves through and pointedly glared at her as if it were her fault for his monstrous mind flow.

            "Why of course."  His glare became even more sullen.  There was no way.  In.  Hell.  He would sleep on a sofa for that length of time.  "If you haven't noticed, it actually pulls out into a sleeper.  I was surprised really…" She stopped herself from saying that 'because it is a muggle thing' for the obvious reasons.  If he knew that, she knew that he definitely wouldn't sleep in it.  "No need to go into hysterics Malfoy, I just got here first is all."  She smirked at him as he scowled at her, and then kicked his trunk at the end of the sofa sleeper.

            "You think that you're so brilliant don't you, Granger?  Let's just hope you can brew a difficult potion for a full week."  She glared at him as he smiled.  

            "I can, I've done potions that have taken much longer.  Much, MUCH longer actually."  He walked over to her menacingly, half kneeling down when he reached her bed.

            "Oh really.  Like what, Granger?  You might know all the answers but I've never seen you brew a difficult, time consuming spell or potion before.  Ever." Her temper started to rise, how dared he judge her?  He didn't know anything about her, absolutely nothing at all.

            "Simple.  The Polyjuice Potion.  Have you ever heard of that?"  Her smirk quickly faded from her face as she realized what she was blurting out, and to whom.  "I shouldn't have said that…" After all, it WAS so that they could spy on Malfoy.  So here she was, practically telling him that they had spied on him four years earlier.  Well that was just brilliant of her.  His eyes got wide at her remark, then faded and quickly replaced by a smirk.

            "Oh right.  Like I would believe that.  Goody-goody Granger breaking all those school rules with a potion that takes forever to brew?  Besides, where in the world would you be able to brew it in the school without anyone ever finding out anyways?"

            "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.  No one ever goes in there."  Oops, there goes yet another secret…  -Oh Hermione, why don't you just keep your mouth shut? - She thought.

            "A bathroom?"  His face blanked a moment.  "Who's Moaning Myrtle?"

            "Long story really, but basically a depressed ghost who haunts one of the bathrooms."  She shrugged.  No need to feed his ego about the fact that she was the muggle born who died during the first time the chamber of secrets was opened.  

            Draco never had time to reply, for at that moment a sudden and strange feeling passed over them both, and a clock chimed.  "There is an hour left.  Suppose it was a warning or something.  –Attention if you don't meet up soon, you will feel much pain…- or something like that."  He turned from her and flopped down on his… sofa.

            "Whatever you say."  She shrugged and looked for her cat Crookshanks.  He was curled up in the corner of the room, glaring in the direction of Malfoy.  She smiled; the cat had a good sense about him.  She looked up to him, and then frowned.  It looked like he was sleeping, though most likely he was just ignoring the fact she even existed.  Her eyes fixed upon his face, against her will.  She stared at him; he looked so peaceful and innocent as he lay there.  There was no sign of his ever-present evil; in fact he looked almost like… like he was kind.  Finally she forced herself to look away and then she sighed.  There was no point in thinking such things; he was a git- no matter how attractive he was.  She half groaned and took Crookshanks with her to her bed and flopped down on it.  "Why me?" Of coarse the old mangy cat did not reply, and she set him down.  She then grabbed a book from her things and started to read.  She had a whole night to kill and she wasn't going to do it staring at the one person she couldn't stand within this school.

            The next fifty minutes passed without anything-spectacular happening.  It was down to the line – five minutes and the tether would be complete.  Hermione set her book down and stared at the clock.  She started to feel a bit malicious, how far exactly WAS twenty feet?  Draco seemed to be pretty far away… She smirked and grabbed the posts of her bed and looked over to him.  If they were more than twenty feet apart, HE was going to be the one to be jerked by the tether.  She looked back to the clock- anytime now.

            The clock chimed again, like it did an hour ago, though you didn't hear it because it was being drowned out by the uninhibited scream coming from none other then Draco Malfoy as he was thrown from his comfortable sofa to five feet away on the floor within less than a second.  Hermione laughed silently at him.  Her plan had worked.  Although during that moment she was also jerked violently towards him, but kept her grip onto the posts for dear life.  Oh how her arms hurt right now… But it was worth it to see him writhing on the floor.

            Draco felt like shit.  He looked over to the bed, expecting to see Granger in the same precarious situation he was in; of coarse she wasn't.  Instead, she was sitting cross-legged on her bed practically laughing her head off at him, and looked like she was giving her bedpost a bear hug.  Damned girl.  He shut his eyes and tried to sit up, and as he did so, pain shot up his spine as if someone had just split open his entire back open with a very sharp blade.  He groaned and lay back down.  Sitting up, this was not a good idea.  "Damn it, that bloody hurts."  He turned his head to Hermione, about to ask her for help but then changed his mind.  No way in hell would he as HER to help him, she was a mudblood, and it was beneath him.  Instead, he decided on something that still made him sound like an arrogant bastard; which he was.  "You'll pay for that, MUDblood."  Unfortunately though, she laughed even harder.

            "It was your own fault you know.  You should have made sure your sleeper was within twenty feet of my bed before you dosed off."  He glared at her.

            "If you knew, you could have come closer to my sleeper."  Her smile faded, and he noticed he had been staring at her mouth.  Ok, Draco you ass…  He forced himself to unfocus his eyes and look away from her.

            "Right, and be stuck on the floor until morning?  I think not."  She rolled her eyes.  Actually the thought never crossed her mind.  Oh well, it wouldn't have been as much fun anyways.  Oh dear, she was turning even more into Ron and Harry, bad Hermione.  She stood up and walked over to him, now having the strange desire to make amends with him.  "Can I help you up?"  He turned his head back to her.

            "I don't need any help from you!"  He once again tried to get up, and then flopped back down in the same pain he had felt before.  If he had any desire to sleep on something warm and soft this night, he would have to concede.  He raised his hand to her, but wasn't about to speak of the atrocity to her.  He wouldn't beg.  For a moment he stared at the ceiling, half expecting her to turn around, walk back to her bed and outright laugh at him for his weakness.  Instead, he suddenly felt his hand being circled with something soft, smooth and warm.  He turned his gaze to her again; almost surprised she took his hand to help him up.  His eyes then lowered to their hands, this was the first time they had actually touched.  Well, in a civil manner anyways.  There were numerous occasions where he would bump 'accidentally' into Granger.  Mow, she was holding his hand with her soft warm one.  Strange, she had softer hands than he thought… She pulled him up and he gasped.  Oh hell, that wasn't any better…  He nearly blacked out from the pain emanating from his back.  "Oh hell."  He half fell onto Hermione, who quickly escorted him to her bed.  He collapsed on the four-poster and groaned.  Amazingly, the moment he lie still on the soft mattress, he fell asleep.  

            She practically glared at him.  Figures, he was most likely faking it so he could get her bed.  Suddenly she blushed.  Malfoy was in her bed.  It was a strange and uncomfortable thought, even though she wasn't in the bed with him.  She found herself staring at his sleeping face yet again.  Without that damned sneer of his, he was actually sort of… pretty.  She then felt her face flush.  "Oh great Hermione, you're blushing over Malfoy, get a grip."  She was whispering to herself.  Yes, she was beginning to lose her mind already.  One more day with him, and she would be a goner.  She looked around her near surrounding, searching for something to sleep on other than the floor for tonight, as her bed was NOT an option.  Close to her bed was a big cushioned chair.  "That will have to do…" Quietly she took the other pillow that Draco wasn't sleeping on, and went over to the large chair to sleep, and sleep she did, the moment her head hit the pillow.

            The sunrays started to come into their room, and Draco woke up, as the only window to the room was over Hermione's bed.  Hermione's bed?!  How did he get there?  Within a moment, he suddenly remembered that she had carried him there…  He groaned, flexing his arm over his eyes.  Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around the room.  Where was she anyways?  Blinking momentarily as the rest of his memory returned of the events of the night before, he yawned.  Right, the tether…  He quickly scanned the room with his eyes and found what he was searching for in a large velvet red chair.  He stared at her a moment.  There was no one around, and she was asleep, so he felt free to ogle at her.  She WAS extraordinarily beautiful, and she had a glow about her right now as she lie sleeping.    Yes, he was definitely attracted to her.  Unfortunately she was off limits to him; she was born from muggles.  The fact that she was from Griffendor had no bearing to him at all.  If she had at least HALF wizard blood in her, and a Griffendor, he wouldn't mind his dirty little thoughts of her so much.  Hell, his father's good friend Manning Corsey married Viyen who was from Griffendor.  Their son Rosen ended up in Ravenclaw, who was one year ahead of him now.  He was a quite one, never really getting into anything, and held a low profile.  He was one of those people in the school that if you mention their names, you would get a bunch of black stares with the question, 'who?'   Even Rosen wouldn't talk to him much, although their father's were good friends.  It wasn't 'desirable' to talk to the son of that 'bastard Lucious Malfoy'.  Instead, he pitied Draco.  Damn them all.  He didn't need any pity.  Draco sighed, who could blame them for not going near him?  Hell, he wouldn't go near him if he were them either.  His father WAS an evil bastard, and a bit of a conniving brute.  No one really liked him, except for his mother, Mr. Corsey and perhaps He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…

            He tried to sit up, and pain emanating from the core of his back made him quickly return to the laying down position.  So much for that idea, can't move.  He glared down to the softly sleeping girl in the big velvet chair, and smirked.  "**HEY, WAKE UP YOU STUPID LITTLE MUDBLOOD!  IT'S MORNING!"  **He shouted out.  She practically screamed, nearly hitting the ceiling as she jumped, startled from her sleep.  He chuckled softly at her.  Revenge bore such sweet fruits…  Of coarse, she only glared at him angrily.

            "That WASN'T funny."  He turned his head back to the ceiling.

            "I thought it was."

            "Well, it wasn't." He clenched his jaw lightly.

            "Neither was what you did last night."  Hermione's mouth opened and closed for a moment, searching for an answer, then turned her head away, standing up.

            "We should start heading to class, but first I want to go see Lonsiel.  There's something we have got to work out yet…" She headed towards the doors, and stopped dead in her tracks.  "Oomph." It was like walking into a wall.  "I'm going to have to get used to this…" She looked behind her, noticing that Draco hadn't budged from his spot on her bed.  "Well, are you coming?"  Draco didn't bother to turn his head towards her, instead he decided to study the ceiling.  Rather fascinating really, there were little swirls of black on the lighter blue and- "MALFOY!  Do you live to irritate me?"

            "Perhaps."  He smirked.

            "Are you coming then?"

            "No." Why that no good…  She marched up to him, and then crossed her arms.

            "And why not?"

            "Because I can't."

            "What do you mean you CAN'T?"  He finally turned his head to her, attempting to giver her a death stare.  Unfortunately, it turned out looking instead like he was in a lot of pain, which he was, actually.

            "Will you stop with the 101 questions already, hell, I can't because I can't move.  Seriously.  I think I pulled something."  Her eyes became wide.

            "Then how-"

            "Stop!  Don't even ask, it's becoming annoying.  Write a note to Professor Lonsiel to send Madame Pompfrey here.  Use my owl." She stared at him blankly.

            "Ok…" She dug within her trunk retrieving a quill and paper, and quickly scribbled down the message.  "Didn't realize you brought an owl."

            "She's quiet, never squawks, EVER."  She sent him a look of confusion, but didn't ask, instead turned to a cage she didn't notice before.  Sure enough, there was a small jet-black owl inside of it.  In fact, it was almost as small as Ron's owl, pig.  How very odd.

            "What's her name?"  He ignored the question.  Did she talk this much while she was around Potter?  If she was normally this way, it was going to be a VERY long three and a half weeks.  He watched her attach the message to his owl's leg and then send it out the window.  She watched it go and she sighed, staring out the window.  She was a rather odd girl, Granger. He forced himself to look away from her, closing his eyes in the process, as he didn't have anywhere else to look other then the ceiling, and he was getting sick of staring at it.  The next few minutes were long and silent, and then he could hear something to his right.

            "I didn't realize it would hurt you."  Her voice almost startled him, ALMOST.  He kept his eyes closed.

            "Well, it did."  Mindless girl, she didn't THINK that it would hurt him?  Sure, being force to the floor five feet away from where you are sleeping in less than a second was perfectly safe… Right, sure it was.  Even he had better sense than that.  

            "I'm sorry, I-"

            "As you should be."  He could hear her move, and flop down on something, most likely the big red velvet chair she had slept in.  She seemed to stay there and he smiled.  Perhaps she was finished talking then?  Hopefully…

            She glared at him from her comfy perch.  How dare he!  Here she was, trying to be civil and apologize, and he throws her apology right back into her face.  What a brute.  Hopefully Madame Pompfrey would arrive soon and tell him he was just fine, like she knew he was…  Wasn't he?  Most of the other times he got 'hurt' he would stagger around moaning and groaning that he was in pain, and oh, poor Draco.  Right now though, he just lay there and refused to move.  Maybe he just didn't want to go to his classes today, paranoid about what everyone would think when she also went.  He couldn't be in that much pain anyways; if he were, he would act like he was in pain at least.

            Another five minutes passed and then they finally heard some mumbling on the other side of their door.  After a moment, it swung open and Lonsiel half ran into the room.  Both students' heads turned toward him.  Draco glared at him.  "Took you long enough."  Soon after, Madame Pompfrey appeared in the tunnel, and then they hardly even noticed Hagrid finally struggle through the entrance, holding a very frantic, yet very silent owl.  He let her go and she flew immediately to Draco, landing on his chest.  "Worried were you?"  The small owl open and closed her beak a few times, then closed her eyes.  "Well, you shouldn't…" His voice was uncharacteristically soft towards the bird, which got him odd looks from both Hagrid and Hermione.  Madame Pompfrey worked her way to the bed as Lonsiel sat down on the other couch.

            "All right boy, sit up, can't very well take a look at you lying down like that now can I?"

            "No, I'm not going to sit up.  Tried it once this morning, not doing it again."  She raised her eyebrows at him a moment.

            "All right then Malfoy, what is it that's bothering you?"

            "My back hurts.  Can't move."  She turned towards Lonsiel then.

            "All right then professor, will you help me turn him then?"  Lonsiel nodded his reply.  He slowly stood from the couch and moved over to the bottom of the bed and grabbed his legs.  "Gently now."  And before he could protest the action, they flipped him to his stomach.  Oh the pain…  He groaned at the feeling as it felt like someone had just hit him in the back with 'Arania Exumae' while the wand was being ground firmly in the small of his back.

            "If you ever do anything like that again, I swear to you my father-" Madame Pompfrey replied giving him a soft push on his back bone, which launched another wave of excruciating pain to wash over him.  A pained yelp nearly escaped his lips, but he held his mouth shut so that all that could escape was a high pitched and cracked moan.  Oh, what he would have given to have just been able to lay in bed all day.

            "Hmm…  Well Malfoy, for once you actually have a reason for all of your moaning." She took out her wand and mumbled something softly, and then he could feel cold air against his skin.  Hermione gasped, and he could feel a warm liquid cover his back.  "My, you did quite a number on yourself there.  This should make your muscles stiff enough that you won't hurt yourself any worse by doing basic movements, such as sitting, standing, and walking.  Don't do anything else.  That includes flying."  She paused, getting a bottle of something out of her bag she brought with her.  "Now sit up."  He complied, but hissed in pain.  It wasn't as bad as before, but it still hurt like bloody hell.  "Drink this, it should help the pain."  He quickly grabbed the cup that she poured the liquid into and poured it down his throat.  The initial reaction to this was to spit it back out as it tasted rather foul, but he forced it to stay down.  After a moment, the pain eased down to a bearable level and he involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.  " I see that it's working.  Good, you will see me tomorrow morning to see how you're doing."  She started to gather her things.  "You are doing rather well though since you've torn about four of your major muscles in your back, and I don't even want to know HOW you've accomplished such a thing."

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A/N:  Not much of an ending for a chapter, but I waited for something more exciting, this chapter would have been a million pages long…  Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and to answer that question, the tether works as a temporary thing.  Every time that the tether is activated, it lasts for three and a half weeks, just like the original.  It is only activated when someone within twenty feet of one of them uses the spell while they are within twenty feet of each other.  Hope that explains it.  

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!


	6. Strange Encounter

A/N:  Hello everyone.  I am sorry it has taken me so long to update, I have been a bit busy writing short stories for my college class and all… Anyways, thanks everyone for reviewing!!!!  I love all of them.  It means you guys are actually reading my stuff, which, mind you, I still find hard to believe.

Disclaimer:  My oh my, how many times do I actually have to say this anyways???  I own many things.  I own the rights to a fantasy series of books yet to be published, two comic books, and word order only of two fan fictions, and the characters Professor Lonsiel and Elhys Capivah.  Unfortunately though, I own nothing of Harry Potter so don't sue me…

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Chapter 6:  Strange Encounter 

            Hermione stared at his back as Madame Pompfrey told Draco again to come see her in the morning, then she left hurriedly.  His back was riddled with scars, which was surprising enough in itself, but what really caught her breath was the fact there was a rather colorful bruise on his back, which spanned from just below his neck to his shoulder blades, then down slightly past the small of his back.  It was her fault, she knew and she felt terrible for it.  She forced herself to look away, ashamed for what she had done.  He hadn't deserved THAT did he?  She looked back up in time to see him put his shirt back on, which was sitting next to him on the bed.  Obviously Madame Pompfrey put it there after magically removing it from him.  "I see that little owl there belongs to ya.  'Appy that I got her to the right place then."  Hagrid smiled quickly at Hermione, lightly clearing his throat as he turned to leave.

            "Hagrid wait."  He turned to her.

            "Yes Miss Hermione?"

            "How did you end up with her, I'm sure I sent her to go to Professor Lonsiel's room."  A light confusion showed itself on her face as she asked this, and his eyes sparkled momentarily.  She smiled at him, his eyes were always so kind, and remembered the time that he comforted her when Malfoy first called her 'mudblood'.

            "Oh!  Your little friend over here…" He turned to Draco.  "Well, it seems that it couldn't get into the dear professor's windows, so she came to me.  Don't know why she did it, most just go an' sit outside the window till it opens, they do."

            "She is a smart bird."  Draco pointedly glared at his second least favored teacher in the school and Hagrid shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

            "Aye, that she is."  He turned back to Hermione then patted her shoulder.  "Take care of yourself now.  I hear you've been excused from today's classes, so I'll just say see you when I will."  He leaned in closer to her.  "It's a ruddy shame that such a fine creature be left with a Malfoy, real shame."  With that he exited the room, which was something of a spectacle in itself as Hagrid had to duck through most normal doorways in the first place, let alone a passage that was much shorter than the standard door.  Hermione suppressed a giggle from escaping her lips, then turned to Lonsiel who had seated himself on one of the couches when he finished helping Madame Pompfrey turn Draco over.  He had a grave expression on his face, his legs crossed and his hands folded on his knees.

            "Well, I warned you now didn't I?" Hermione went to say something, but he cut her off before any sound came out.  "I don't want to hear the details, what is done is done."  His expression then transformed immediately to one of excitement and happiness, a complete contrast to what it was just seconds before.  "You are going to Diagon Alley today for supplies.  There are a few of the ingredients that you will need that aren't in the school, such as baby mandrake root powder.  Professor Sprout doesn't seem to want to part with any of her mandrakes before they reach adult stages.  Other than that, you will need piranha fern leaves and skybane sap.  So three things, understand?"  They nodded and he stood, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a small velvet bag.  "Here is 1000 galleons, it SHOULD cover all three things.  I want receipts!"  He turned to leave.  "And when you are done with that, return here and start the potion.  Have a good day!"  Then he left.

            "I can't believe he cancelled out my classes for today…" Hermione was in a shocked daze.  How could he?  It just wasn't fair at all, how was she supposed to read ahead if she didn't know the assignment or subject matter?  It was only the second week of school…

            "Will you get over it, Granger?  It's only one day.  I'm sure you already have a months worth of work done for them all anyways, so one day isn't going to kill you."  This time it was her that ignored him.  He stood shakily, taking in a sharp breath as he did so; it was still a bit painful to do such a movement, but a lot more tolerable then it was a moment ago.  "We are going to go see Snape, and figure out how to get to Diagon Alley. Come on now Granger, we haven't all day you know." He turned towards the doorway and headed for it.  Hermione sighed and followed but kept about as far away as she could without bumping her heals on the barrier.  He attempted to ignore the sounds of her feet hitting the floor, not wanting to completely acknowledge her presence.  Doing that, it almost was like being followed by Crabbe and Goyle, except that he knew that the one who followed him was female, and a mudblood.  Speaking of those two, they were going to freak when he didn't show up for classes today.  Oh yes, he would have to sweet talk his way out of this one… Oh well, such was life in the everyday evils of one said Draco Malfoy.

            Soon they arrived at Potions, which was empty for the moment, outside of Professor Snape.  He looked up from his paperwork and glanced at the two students curiously.  "Yes Malfoy?" He turned his face towards Hermione.  "Granger?" He raised his eyebrows in feigned annoyance, making Hermione cringe slightly.  It would have been better to go see McGonnegal for this… Draco turned to her then.

            "Sit." She obeyed strangely enough.  Probably because he felt she had strained him enough for one day.  With a smirk, Draco walked over to Professor Snape.  "Before I blow up at you for being an ass, I have to ask you if you have a way we can get to Diagon Alley."  Hermione let out a small groan, how could he talk to a professor like that?  Especially Snape!  Snape's eyebrows arched quizzically at him.

            "Might I ask, but what business do you…. Have… at Diagon Alley, that it would be important enough to leave the school for."

            "Ingredients for a potion WE are working on in Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Three things aren't available in the school, so we must go get them." Snape leaned back into the chair he was in.

            "Fine then," He took out a box and opened it.  It was filled with an ashen looking powder.  "I do hope you know how to use Floo Powder."

            "**Floo** Powder?  You expect me to travel by **Floo **Powder?" Draco leaned in towards the desk, donning a death glare to Snape as he did so.

            "Why yes, do you have a problem with this, **_Malfoy_**?" He shut the box and shoved it towards Draco.  "There should be enough here for a two way trip.  Do enjoy yourselves." He gave a quick and disgusted look towards Hermione, then returned to the paperwork he was doing before.  "If you don't leave soon, you won't make it back in time for you potions class with me tomorrow.  I suggest you leave."

            Draco picked up the box, sneered pointedly at him, and then quickly turned from him.  "Come on." He gave a quick look to Hermione, who was already standing, then continued on.  She jogged to catch up to him, afraid the barrier would hit her heels, or knock her down, either way.  How strange, Snape never seemed to notice that Draco called him an ass.  Making a quick note to her self to wonder about that later, she followed him to their chamber.  Once out of the door passage, he stopped abruptly, which make Hermione walk into his back.  He squeaked from the pain of it, and then turned on her.  "Watch where the hell your going mudblood!" She bit her lip briefly, and interesting images popped into Draco's head with that, making him forget the pain for a moment.

            "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."  Her word brought him back to his sensed, and shook his head to clear the unwanted images.  He changed the subject.

            "I hate traveling by Floo Powder.  That bloody man knows it too, bet his laughing his bloody head off at me right now.  Damn him, I will make him regret this."  Hermione frowned, deciding she shouldn't try and conquer the subject of the relationship between Draco and Professor Snape.  They way he talked to him and the comment he made suggested that they were close.  Draco went to the large fireplace and stood in it for a moment, then his face contorted.  He motioned for her to come over to him.  "We better do this together.  Diagon Alley and this room are more than twenty feet apart, don't need you passing out from the pain on me."  Always the superior one isn't he?  Her anger slightly renewed at his remark, she walked to the fireplace.  He opened the box of Floo Powder, and they both took a handful of the stuff.  "I will call it."

            "Why do you have to call it?"  He rolled his eyes and sighed.

            "Just let me call it will you?"  She silently nodded, and he snickered at her.  He had never seen two people use Floo Powder at once before (though he never really used it, nor had he seen it used many times before) and truly was hoping it would work.  It must work, otherwise...  He winced, knowing that if it didn't work, his already existing pain would increase by at least tenfold.  Oh the horror...  Hermione started to throw down the Floo Powder and Draco did the same, quickly snaking an arm around her waist as he did so.  He was taking no chances at being separated, whatsoever.  "Diagon Alley."

            In the matter of moments they were engulfed in green flames.  Draco started to feel nauseous as the sensation of falling hit him, and brought Hermione closer to him out of instinct.  Almost as soon as it started it stopped, and he fell to the floor of the empty shop they had come to, dragging Hermione with him.  Draco fell onto his back, his arm still firmly wrapped around Hermione, who lay on top of him now.  She groaned, trying to sit up, pushing down on whatever it was that she had landed on; it was rather soft...  Something hissed beneath her, and she felt a weight lift from around her middle as she was shoved off of her soft perch.  "Get off me will you?"  Hermione stood and looked behind her to Draco, who stumbled to his feet, then half leaned against her wall.  He caught his breath, then looked over to her.  "Better get going Granger, if we wish to return to school by tonight." He quickly walked past her, and she followed him.  Was it just her, or had Malfoy actually held her on their way here?  Yet another mystery she would have to ponder later on.

            Their search for supplies went relatively quick as all but one of the ingrediants was in the same shop.  They had shopped without a word to each other; Draco's mind was far too preoccupied to do such a thing.  When they traveled there by Floo Powder, he had hugged Hermione to him for dear life.  She had landed on top of him, her soft flesh molding to his own.  He would have relished the fact, had his back not been so bothersome, as at that time he had been paying more attention to the deep pain as he lay on the floor with her weight on him.  It was only when she tried to move he had realized he hadn't removed his arm form her waist.  The fact was, he just couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to the way she felt against him, and how he desired to feel more of her.  He sighed; no he definitely wouldn't last out a full three and a half weeks.

            "Well, I suppose we should head back to school then.  We still have enough time to start the potion."  His thought sere thrown back to the present, and he nodded.

            "Yes, but we missed lunch, how about we get some before we head back?" He paused, and then quickly added, "To go of coarse." She nodded, and they ordered two sandwiched from the Leaky Cauldron, and then headed back to the empty shop they arrived in.  They quickly went to the fireplace and repeated what they had done back at Hogwarts.  Once again, Draco snaked his arm around Hermione's middle. "Hogwarts" ...  The Floo Powder hit the floor and green flames surrounded them.  Draco prepared for that nauseous feeling, clenching his teeth as he did so.

            The flames slowly died away, no sick feeling, no falling; they were both surprised with this.  They ere even more surprised when they looked around to their surroundings.  They were still inside the small shop that they were trying to leave from.  Draco immediately released Hermione and stepped away from her.  "This is just great!"

            "How are we supposed to get back now?"  He set their lunches down and held out a hand to her.

            "Piece of paper, pen, immediately."  She glared at him, and he sneered back at her.  She sighed, giving up for the moment, and retrieved a pen and a folded up piece of blank paper from a pocket inside of her robes.  He smirked.  "Thought you might be prepared with such things." He half chuckled to himself and took the supplies from her then scribbled a message onto it.

            "What are you going to do with that?" He pocketed the pen as he finished, then folded the paper.

            "Never stop with the questions do you?"  We are going to the owlry."  She slowly nodded her head.

            "Oh, I see now.  You're going to send a message for help." He was about to retort when she licked her lips.  It had only been a quick flick of the tongue to wet them, but his body was already starting to react to the innocent gesture.  Oh, how there were times he despised being a male...  Well sort of, it was more of the fact he couldn't get away from Hermione, the one girl in school he desired, yet couldn't have.  Of coarse, he wouldn't be able to get away either, to release his frustrations on some other girl, who wouldn't mind so much being used for such things...

            This time Hermione led the way, and they soon found themselves at the owlry.  Draco chucked up a few of Lonsiel's galleons, and sent the message to Hogwarts.  "Hopefully, we will get a reply soon.  I don't want to stay around here all day."

            "Since we are here, why don't we look around?" Draco shrugged.

            "Nothing better to do, do what you want."  So she started to walk through some of the shops in Diagon Alley she had never been to before.  After a while she went into a small half hidden shop called 'Antiques, Potions, Spells and Other Wonders'.  They walked in, it was rather dark with floating sparkling crystals illuminating the room.  Other than that, it closely resembled a 'psychics' place that muggles went to.  There were beaded doors and candles, books and bottles of powders, stones and liquids.

            Draco started to walk around the shop, fingering the miscellaneous bottles.  He stopped at one, lingering his finger over it for a long moment.  There was something about it that seemed... different.

            "Twice over powder."  A short, thin woman wearing metallic silver and purple robes seemed to appear out of nowhere.  Her long raven hair was tied back just underneath her witch's hat, and she wore many necklaces of beads, stones and symbols.  "Allows you to use the effects of a single use potion twice, just sprinkle a few grains of it in before you use it.  The man who created this never took any notes."  She tapped the side of her head; "Kept it all in here, and never let anyone near him when he made it.  When he died, any knowledge to its creation went with him.  As such, it has been nearly two hundred years since his death now, and I believe there are only ten bottles left in existence.  I happen to own one of them."  She stepped closer to Draco, moving her thin silver reading glasses down her nose.  He almost shivered from her gaze, her eyes seemed to bear into his soul, and such strange eyes they were.  The irises were black, with silver accents, and no pupil.  I was somewhat disturbing.  "It is a very useful thing, however, the bottle itself is not for sale, and the vials behind it are, however."  Draco turned back to the bottle, sure enough; there were small vials behind it, holding a little bit of the powder.  Very little.  "They sell at 300 galleons each."

            "Three hundred galleons?" Draco was appalled.  "For ten grains of powder?  You're out of your mind!"

            "It is enough for one or two potions, and such is the price of rarity." He shrugged; it didn't really matter to him.  She smiled and stepped away.  "I see that you are here from Hogwarts shopping, a difficult potion perhaps?" Now was the time he started to wonder about her.  How did she know about Hogwarts?  "Don't see many people your age around this time of year."  All emotion left her face, and the blackness of her eyes grew large, to where there was hardly any white left to them.  Her hand seemed to clutch at something within her robes, then fell away from whatever it was.  "You are awaiting a reply.  One of you, follow me..." She turned from them, smiling only when her face was out of view of them.

            "We can't."  She wiped the smile from her face to turn to Hermione.  She tilted her head inquisitively.  "Well you see... We... are sort of... Tethered?"  She ended the statement like a question, as if she didn't know how to word it.

            "I see.  The Mendella Tether is it?  Ah yes, I believe it is."  She paused, "Nonetheless, follow me.  Both of you."  She turned and walked through one of the beaded doorways, and they followed her cautiously.  What did she want?  "Come in, sit."  They entered a small room with two chairs around a small table, and they complied to her wishes.  She then turned to the only object in the room other than the two chairs and the table, a small cupboard.  She took something out of it, a small maroon and forest green box, the rim bordered with sparkling silver dust, weaving a delicately laid pattern, looping in and around itself in a dance that was never-ending.  Yet it was the flawless silvery hinge that caught the eye most to this box, the top of it being a dragon, its jaw dropped, tongue tasting the air as it sat upon its haunches with its wings fully spread, its tail looping down, under and through a peacock feather stained ever so lightly, as to give only a hint of the brilliant colors to what it really was.  The woman walked over to the table and set the box down, then seated herself in mid-air.  Hermione's face scrunched in wonder, and the woman chuckled.

            "It's the new Wond-Air chair, just came out two weeks ago.  Rather handy, so long as you remember where it was you put it." She winced slightly, suggesting she might have missed it a few times.  She took a reddish wand from her robes then waved it at the cupboard, and two goblets flew over to her two visitors.  She then put away her wand and slicked her fingers and a dark liquid apparated out of the air and filled the goblets.  "Now then, now that you are staying for tea, I suppose I should introduce myself.  My name is Elhys Capivah, and I own this little shop."  She turned her head to Hermione, her eyes going large again, like they had a moment ago with Malfoy.  "You are a muggle born, surrounded with loving friends who would do anything for you. Yet there will be many trials for you this year.  You must stay strong, and trust in those who care for you, otherwise..." She paused, and then smiled, her eyes returning to normal.  "Otherwise the things that you will cherish, though you do not yet, will never come to pass."  She turned then to Draco.  "And you, a Malfoy, I recognize you.  The blonde hair, dark eyebrows, you can be none other.  Protect yourself from secrets untold, never let then be known.  Answers you seek..." Her eyes became small to where her pupils seemed only a bead.  "The answers you seek, will soon be revealed, and the answers you will someday need, lie within this box."  She pushed the beautiful box towards him.  "Do not open this now."  Her eyes fluttered shut, and she opened them again, smiling.  "Now then, on to more interesting things."  Hermione and Draco exchanged looks; this woman was odd.  "Come now, drink your tea, and I will read you leaves.  By the way, how is everyone at Hogwarts?  Professor Dumbledore?  Is Mr. Snape a professor now?"

            "Yes, Professor Snape is the head of my house, and the school's potions master."  Draco leaned back, heading into subjects he was more comfortable with.  All that future hype was a bit unnerving, and it almost seemed like she knew him... or something.  Perhaps he should go with the 'or something' as he couldn't place her at all.

            "Ah yes, I though he might.  He was brilliant at potions already in his first year.  I remember him quite well.  Rather shy though, a bit lanky, tall without the build yet."

            "You've been to Hogwarts... I mean when he was in school, you don't seem that old."  Hermione was now genuinely curious about her.  She obviously was a master of Divination, or a really good guess.  Still...

            "You might say that."  There was a fluttering behind the curtain.  "It seems your reply has returned.  Finish you tea though before you leave, I wish to give you a reading."  After this they quickly chugged down the tea, Hermione a bit slower than Draco, and handed her their cups.  "Ah, yes you my fair, I shall read first."

            "I'm sorry, but didn't you already read our fortunes?"

            "No, I was reading your aura's, just tells about you, the leaves tell your future."  Hermione breathed an 'oh' and Draco just rolled his eyes.

            "What makes you think that I care about what the future holds for me?"  The smile faded from Elhys' face, as she looked to him, emotionless.  "I don't.  In fact, you would rather go get your owl and leave this place, but I desire to read your fortunes, and your not leaving till I do."  At this point, she quickly turned her head to the leaves of Hermione's cup.  After a moment her eyes widened, then pushed the cup away.  "You will have a very busy year. Old and new enemies will show themselves.  A parting of someone dear to you will come by the end of the year."  She turned to Malfoy's cup. "Ah yes."  She looked at the leaves closely, smiling slightly.  "Something unexpected awaits you, as will as something else you expect already.  The things you already know of will happen sooner than you think."  He frowned then and stood.  There was no way she could possibly know of what he expected and planned for... could she?  She was freaking him out, and he wasn't going to stand for it any longer.

            "Alright, enough with this shit.  I have heard enough." He turned to leave, Hermione rising to do the same, the woman's words ringing in her head.  New enemies as well as old?  She frowned; divination was definitely not her subject.

            "Barriamus!" Draco walked firmly into a force field at the beaded door.  He turned on his heals, glaring at her.

            "What the he-" She shoved the beautiful box from earlier at him.

            "Don't forget this." She waved her arm in from of her slowly.  "Dispell" She turned back towards the table.  "Goodbye, you may leave now."  He hesitantly walked thought the door that seemed solid only a moment before.  After they were gone, Elhys smiled lightly and whispered softly to herself.  "That vile will do you good, see you soon, Sir Malfoy.  The dragon lies within you..."

*********************

            Draco walked through the same spot as he had before when he met Elhys.  He looked at that bottle again, and a strange unsettling feeling came over him.  He walked over to it, picked up one of the vials that contained some of the powder, turned his head to make sure it was clear, and then pocketed it.  He heard a gasp behind him, and he turned to the source.

            "Honestly!  You should put that back Malfoy!" She sounded panicked.  He exhaled quickly through his teeth creating a 'tsss' sound.

            "Damn Granger, you make it sound like you're the one who would be punished if I am caught."

            "Ever hear of guilt by association?" Her face donned that damned know it all look she was so good at.  It was positively annoying... yet adorable at the same time.  Ah hell, those damned thoughts again...  Out out out!  He suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder, and felt something nibbling at his hair.  He smiled; it wasn't the owlry's bird, but his very own sweet owl.  No wonder he hadn't heard any annoyed chirps coming from out there while his fortune was being read.  He brought his arm up and she gratefully hopped onto it, closing her eyes in pleasure as he shifted the box underneath is arm, and stroked her head.  "Oh, you beautiful bird, are you tired?  You had such a long way to fly..." He noticed a small bag attached to her leg.  Inside was a note, and some Floo Powder.  He opened the note, and read it, raising his eyebrows.  "What a moron."

            Hermione walked up to him, curious what the note said.  She was a bit confused though, had she just heard him cooing to that owl?  She thought he hated animals, the way he acted around Hagrid's creatures.  She never knew he had that tone to his voice, soft and loving.  It was so… the exact opposite of everything Malfoy.

            "Listen to this.  Dear students, I am quite sorry that I did not tell you the name in which you must return by.  It is call Dorian Capivah, Floo here as soon as you can.  Because of the delay I have already taken the liberty to place all of the ingredients into your quarters, you should be able to get it going by tonight.  Enjoy your day, Sincerely Professor Lonsiel."  She nodded.

            "You're right, he IS a moron."  She paused, "Wait a moment, did you say Dorian CAPIVAH?"  He nodded.  "Her name is Capivah…" She turned heading back to the room where Elhys Capivah had divined their futures for them.  She peeled back the beaded curtain and… She was gone.  "She is gone…"  She got that weird feeling there was more to all this than met the eye.  "I am going to go to the library after this potion is well on its way and see if I can find out anything about her.  She is a bit creepy, you have to admit."  Draco smirked.

            "Afraid of the diviner are we Granger?"  She shot a look of death towards him.

            "You're one to speak!  I seen the way you were in there, Mr. High Almighty."

            "For your information, it is that I don't care for anything but the present, the here and now.  I don't want to look back on the past, nor on to the future."  Yes, far too many unpleasant things, the past, the future, neither held any brightness from him.  "Must you pry into my head?  You're just like-" He stopped himself, he almost let go one of his precious secrets.  Crabbe and Goyle, he almost told her.  According to the school, they were his friends, or plain ole followers who worshipped him.   How very wrong they all were.  They didn't care about him, they didn't worship him, and in fact they thought it was rather funny when he got in trouble with his father.  Someday he would show them all that he was more than a puppet to be played with, and oh how sweet it would be…

            "MALFOY!" He was jerked from his thoughts as he felt the barrier push him off balance.  He angrily looked over to Hermione.  "Are you coming or are you going to stand there day dreaming all day.  Just in case you have forgotten, we have a potion to brew, and I would like to get the first part of it done before dinner tonight."  She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest impatiently.  In a rare show, the material formed to her, revealing the smoother mounds underneath the cloth.  Such a sight wasn't healthy for him, being that he was being forced into three and a half weeks of celibacy, no matter how innocent the intentions.  He forced his eyes towards the door and nodded.

            "Y-Yes." He finally snapped out of it when she gave that disbelieving 'oh sure you are' look, and he smoothly went through the door.  "Once we have all the ingredients, it should take less then an hour to get it fully set up."  He turned to her irritably, "Come on, let's go."  She followed him silently until they were once again standing in the fireplace.  "You throw two handful this time.  My hands are full." He lifted his arm with the owl up lightly and his other hand which was holding the box as an excuse to her.  She sighed loudly.

            "Fine." He suddenly pressed his body close to hers.  No way was he getting separated from her.  His back couldn't take it… She threw down the powder, and once again the greenish flames surrounded them, unburning.  Draco felt that damned unnerving falling sensation again as the Floo Powder took them back to their room.  When he landed this time, his knees buckled, and lost his balance, falling backwards as he did so.  "For the bloody sake of Merlin…" He landed flat on his tailbone, waving yet another shock of pain through his spine and he groaned.  Had he been smarter, he would have used his hands to stop his fall.  Unfortunately, he cared too much for the bird on his one arm, and felt oddly protective of the new box given to him.  He half sighed and stood slowly, and then noticing the odd look Hermione was giving him.  "What?!" He scowled at her.  Filthy little mudblood- should mind her own business.

            "You don't travel by Floo Powder very well do you?"  He glowered at her.  How dare she accuse him of not being adequate in something?  Even though it was true… But still it was the idea of it.

            "Didn't see you very well standing the first time we went through." He was turning this on her.  She had traveled plenty of times by Floo Powder, and thought it rather ingenious.  Suddenly the memory of WHY she wasn't standing the first time flashed in her mind.  She blushed.

            "Actually, that was your doing.  Had you not been holding tightly onto my middle, I wouldn't have been dragged down with you.  So actually, if you must know, I travel quite well by Floo Powder." She gave a quick nod of her head, then quickly walked out of the fireplace and noticed the ingredients neatly piled upon the table with a little note on it.

            "You annoy me mudblood."  She looked over to him, then back to the note.

            "Well, if it is any consolation to you, I find YOU rather annoying as well." She read the note, and let out and aggravated and breathy 'ooh!' then proceeded to throw the note down.  "The nerve of him!  Why must he be so cheery all the time?  Honestly!" Draco walked up to her after setting the box on his bed and depositing his bird onto the edge of his sleeper.

            "What?" She bent down and picked up the note she had just thrown down a moment ago, and shoved it towards him.

            "Here, read for yourself." He quickly snatched the paper from her hands, making sure he gave her a look of contempt and hatred before he jerked his head down towards the paper he was holding.  It read as such:

            To My Dear Students:

I see you have made it back in one piece.  Here are you supplies; this should be everything.  Do enjoy yourselves.

                                    Sincerely, Professor Brian Lonsiel

            "No matter how sure I was before on this matter, I believe it is now official that this man is an insufferable ass." Hermione laughed lightly, creating a small glow within his chest, and he half smiled.  She didn't notice this as she was turned the other way, and he quickly removed it from his face, realizing what he was doing before she could see it.  Oh hell, what was that?  That had never happened before… At that moment he decided he did not like that strange warm feeling, and pushed it aside the best he could.

            "For once, I agree with you.  I do believe he is out to destroy us.  Anyways," She cleared her thoughts, still not believing herself that Malfoy just made a joke she found funny as well.  "We should start on the potion, then perhaps we could go to dinner." Dinner…?

            "Damn it… We left our lunches over there didn't we?  I completely forgot about it when we didn't go through… Damn it!"  He trailed off, but started to help her out with sorting the ingredients.  They were soon in deep concentration, working on the potion.

            Within an hour the potion was bubbling happily and the color was the perfect shade of light blue.  Both sighed relief as the noted this.  "Well, this is it for now.  I'm going to take a shower before dinner."  Hermione then turned towards the bathroom and Draco felt the familiar tug of the barrier coming near.

            "Hold on a moment will you.  Let me get something." He grabbed the box that the strange woman had given him, and then went closer to the bathroom and sat down in a chair.  "Fine, go." She complied wordlessly as he curiously eyed the box.  "What wonders do you hold?" he whispered to it.  All right, so he talked to inanimate objects…  Everyone has their downfalls don't they?  He rubbed his fingers over the raised patterns of jewels on the box, and then heard the water falling in the bath.  He fingered the clasp momentarily, and when it didn't open readily, he tried to force it.  After several more attempts, and nearly throwing the blasted thing across the room, he figured it out.  By pushing down on the upper part of the feather, pushing it upwards while sliding the tail to the side at the same time, it opened rather easily.  He smiled victoriously as the lid soundlessly opened on its hinges.  He suddenly felt nervous, and hesitated from moving the last layer of cloth to reveal the secrets inside.  He groaned.

            "Oh Merlin, You're working yourself up over nothing Draco, just open up the blasted thing…" He quickly pulled back the cloth, and gasped at what he saw inside.

**********************

A/N: Well, here is chapter 6.  Once again I am sorry that it took so long. (This chapter happens to be around 6,000 words long by the way…)  And a cliffhanger too!  Please review I appreciate it!


	7. Beginning of the End

A/N: YAYYYYYYY! Chappie 7 is finally here, and the LEMON has started. I know, this here chapter took me forever to write, but it is ungodly, extraordinarily long.

Disclaimer. I own it all. I own what J. K. Rowling owns. I own Draco, and Snape, and Harry too. Ok, ok, so maybe I don't. But I have written about them enough to where they should be mine!!! evil laugh... eyes the authoritive figures coming towards her ready to stuff her in a jail cell uhh... But alas, they belong to J. K. Rowling instead. Sighs loudly But I DO own Elhys Capivah and Professor Lonsiel, so please don't take them. I love those two…

Anyways. I suppose that after a few weeksheh few... of waiting, you would rather read the chapter instead of my ranting ways, so here ya go.

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**Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End**

What he seen was impossible. Now way in hell was it actually anywhere near plausible for this to exist. Yet, right there before his very eyes, it lay there. Pretending to be innocent, and fragile. It made his heart leap into his throat. A piece of stationary carrying that script… but it wasn't in his handwriting, nor was it anything he had ever written before. He brought his hand down to the message, tracing his fingers over the elegant script. Strange, it was written on silk, or more accurately, it was embroidered onto it so delicately it looked as if it were actually written upon. How anyone could have done this, was completely beyond him. He had never told anyone about the script or of its translations. He pursed his lips into a thin white line, after all the years he had used it, no one had ever been able to decipher any of it, the character of it were vast and many, based upon sounds and syllables instead of and alphabetical lettering. It had taken him months to perfect it, and burned everything after he memorized it that might have hinted on the meanings of the symbols. At least… He thought that he did until this moment. How else could have this script appear here, like this? He clenched his jaw tightly, and picked up the silken letter, and slowly deciphered it.

_Dear Draco Malfoy,_

_You are probably wondering how it is that this appears to you in your personal writing, so I will assure you that I did not invade your things to know this script. Though, I did look through your minds eye to know what only you would read, as there will be wondering eyes and this is meant for you alone. Please, do not feel like you have been intruded on, the knowledge of this script is safely tucked away within my mind. I have no reasons to share with anyone. That settled, I will return to the main issue at hand. Inside of this box is something I myself have invented, though what it is I will not yet reveal to you, for this you must find out on your own. Though, I will tell you this, wear it at all times, as you may find a use for it at some point. Also, it holds a small protection spell of sorts, so it is best if you were to wear it. Keep it hidden though, and stay safe, young Malfoy._

_ Take Care- Elhys Capivah_

He stared at the message a moment, and then looked back down to the box. Sure enough there was something else inside of it. It was a necklace, and a beautiful one at that. It had a thin silver chain with a dragon at the end of it. Made of silver, it held onto a large deep violet colored crystal. Its eyes were made of rubies, teeth of diamonds and wore a miniature pendant that held an emerald. He picked it up, and to the back of it, it had a place that if you stroked your thumb down, an opening to the back of the dragon's head would reveal itself. In curiosity, he did just that, and the dragon's talons dug into the crystalline stone, and the opening on the back of its head revealed itself. He tipped it slightly, and a deep purple looking liquid seeped out of it.

"What is that?" A voice sounded from slightly behind him, causing him to jump. He turned to see Hermione, donned in a clean school uniform, and glared at her. He brought his new trinket closer to himself almost defensively.

"It's mine, and none of your business." She rolled her eyes and walked to her bed.

"Honestly, I was only asking a simple question, and you try and bite my head off. Next time, I will keep quiet then." He smirked at her.

"I could only hope." She turned to him sharply.

"You're insufferable!" This caused his smirk to turn into a full out grin. She had never seen a true grin on him before, and momentarily wanted to stare at him. Then she remembered she was angry. She suddenly smiled, turned her back on him, leaned forward, and slammed against the barrier. Draco fell promptly to the floor, immediately losing the grin that had just a moment ago donned upon his face.

"Damn it Granger, can't you take a joke?" She smiled at him and tried to look perfectly innocent, cocking her head slightly to her right, even though he wasn't even looking towards her at that moment. Oh well.

"Obviously not, as I don't see it all that funny." He picked himself off of the floor and took the necklace out of the box and hung it around his neck. "Is that what she gave you?" He didn't bother to face her from the way he had fallen.

"Didn't I already tell you that it's none of your concern as to what this is? And yes, this is it." He took the box over to his bed, not really worrying too awfully much, as he already hidden the silken message within one of his numerous pockets of his cloak just a moment ago. "Mind if we go to dinner now?" He walked towards the door, trusting her to follow him without having to look behind him. She didn't move until she felt the barrier closing in, and then quickly followed him out.

"How far do you think our tables are from each other?" Draco stopped abruptly and went even paler then he already was naturally.

"Farther than twenty feet." His eyes grew wide and panicked at the realization. He couldn't very well have the mudblood sit with the Slytherins, nor could he sit at Griffendor, though tat sounded more pleasing to him that the first option. Except for the fact that every living person living that sat at that table hated him, despised him, and most likely wanted him dead.

"How about we figure this out AFTER we get there? I'm sure Harry would have a reasonable solution for this one. He turned to her coldly; a grimaced expression filled his face.

"Potter? You're going to ask that little scar head friend of yours of our predicament? I think not, agree you wont tell him or else I will not move from this very spot." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Fine. We ask Professor Lonsiel then, but don't think that Harry won't find out that we're tethered though."

"That's NOT what I was talking about."

"Ok then, what WERE you talking about?" She also crossed her arms.

"Asking him for help of course, what are you, dense?" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Must you be so proud Malfoy?" She hissed out his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yes actually, Malfoy's never ask for help, and I am not breaking that tradition, especially not to **_him_**." She smiled sadistically.

"You asked me to help you up…" He gave a half growl.

"It was different! I only offered you my hand. I wasn't expecting any help." She turned on him then, walking again towards the dinner hall.

"Good, then I won't find it necessary to do such a thing again." He grumbled to himself and followed her, knowing if he stayed put he would be hit with the barrier and ho, how he was **not** in the mood for that right now. Soon they reached the room and entered it, knowing full well that they were late. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she entered the large room, causing Draco to walk directly into her backside. After a small shockwave of pain in his back from the sudden jolt, he groaned almost inaudibly.

"Damn it Granger, warning would be nice." He hissed at her.

"Shut up Malfoy, there is something going on…" He peered around her and noticed what it was she was talking about. Everyone in the hall was standing around the sides, looking either rather confused or rather angry. Hermione entered, and worked her way over to Harry and Draco near to where Crabbe and Goyle were, but stopped about one foot short of the twenty-foot restriction.

"Crabbe, Goyle, over here. **Now**." Her jerked his head to the side to motion them over to him. They exchanged a look between them, shrugged, and then walked over to him.

"Where've you been? How come you didn't walk over to us?" Draco donned the know it all, and better than thou look. Goyle raised his brow.

"I like this spot. Not moving from it until we sit. By the way, what's going on?" He avoided the first question, not really wanting to have the bulky buffoon yell at him in front of everyone in the school. That explanation would simply just have to wait until later.

"Oh… Well… I don't think anyone really knows. When everyone arrived, Dumbledore just announced for everyone not to seat themselves, but to stand as we are now. We were sort of hoping that you would know, but I take it you don't though." Crabbe pouted slightly, which annoyed Draco a bit.

"Merlin! I don't know **EVERYTHING **that goes on around here, ask the Bloody Baron if you're THAT curious, the ghost always seems to know more about what is happening in the school then everybody else does." Crabbe simply shrugged, and then once again turned his attentions to the front to see what announcement would be made. Draco grinned, and then also turned this attentions towards the teachers' table, backing up to the wall so he could lean on it, which made him very near the barrier.

Hermione looked over to Draco as she felt the barrier start to get near her. Just as she had thought, he had gone over and surrounded himself by his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle. She had just heard Ron tell her about finally making it on the quidditch team as the new keeper. Oh joy, that meant even more talk about quidditch. Not that she didn't like the sport- in fact it was an awesome one that was better then any muggle game she ever seen. But when your two best friends were constantly going on about it, one loses ones interest in such things. "Congratulations Ron! I'm sure you'll be the best keeper Griffendor has ever seen, I'm sure." Ron beamed at her, and she smiled at him. She knew how badly he wanted to be on the team, and he deserved it.

"Thanks 'Mione, by the way," Oh dear, please don't ask, "Where were you yesterday? Did you get hurt or something? You were released from ALL the classes." She frowned at the question; it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear at the moment.

"Oh, that." Ok, Hermione, act casually… "Well, about that, it was for my project for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Seems that we didn't have enough of the ingredients on hand, so we had to go to Diagon Alley." Ron mouthed an 'oh' and Harry decided to ask the question she was starting to dread.

"Why is it you moved from Griffendor Tower?" She groaned, stealing another glance towards Malfoy.

"Um…" Dumbledore then clapped for the attention of the students, and she sighed relief. "I will tell you later." He nodded to her, and she smiled. He wouldn't have the chance to ask her for at least another day. The entirety of the room hushed down from the roar it was in just a short moment before, as Professor Albus Dumbledore stood.

"Attention students, I understand you are all confused about the situation at hand. I assure you it is nothing too awfully serious. It has come to my attention that the house divisions have become very severe as of late. In a light attempt to ease this problem, we have decided to alter the seating arrangements for the rest of this term. Were you stand now will determine the table you shall be seated." He paused a moment, waving his hand as if giving permission to something. "Hagrid, please show them their seats." Hagrid nodded.

"All right then, I've got it then Professor Dumbledore." He smiled, giving him a bit of a wink, and then started to show them all to their new tables. When Hagrid got to Draco, he motioned him towards the table, and he casually followed. Being that the tether was unfortunately present at the time, Hermione followed him. As she did this, Ron grabbed her shoulder and held her back, as at the moment, it seemed like a perfectly normal thing to do. In a quick moment, oddly enough the barrier passed over her as Draco moved farther away from where she was.

"We have to wait our turn!" This was all she could make out of what Ron was saying because pain quickly followed after the barrier as fire started burning hotly within her veins, and was accompanied by an irresistible pulling sensation coming from the direction of Malfoy. Every second that passed seemed like an eternity of torture as she felt like the molten lava had poured directly into her being. Not only this, but the feeling was amplifying with every second that passed. Her breath became fast, as the world began to become a tad fuzzy to her, yet she fought the desire to fall unconscious, letting out a squeak as she did so. Ron turned her around and gave her a funny look. "What's wrong?" She mustered up a glare, and clenched her jaw from the pain. Oh, the damned, wand breaking, no good...

Draco felt the wave of the barrier wash through him, and stopped short the moment the pain hit him. He paled as he concentrated on something other than the pain. How did she get past the barrier? He slowly backtracked, attempting not to stumble as the mind-numbing pain engulfed him. Slowly, the feeling dissipated, and then finally disappeared altogether. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked to his left at the table where Hagrid was sitting his group. Goyle walked up to him, noticing that Malfoy had fallen behind, and was followed by none other than Crabbe. "What are you doing? We always sit at that end of the table, just because we are switching tables, shouldn't change anything, so-" Malfoy cut him off.

"Shut up Goyle, I like it here. Sit." He walked over to the table and sat and his two followers continued to sit themselves to either side of him. Soon he could no longer feel the tug of the barrier and knew Granger had come well within the twenty-foot restriction, and felt himself smiling. "Yes, definitely like this spot." Crabbe looked over to Goyle and shrugged.

Hermione had seated herself exactly across from Malfoy at the corresponding table behind him, the closest she could she could come to him without sitting net to him, really. Harry had given her an odd look when she had sighed relief when she noticed him backtrack towards her, then sit down when back inside the barrier. She had just shrugged it off, and then continued on until she stopped abruptly when she reached the spot that would make her back to back with Malfoy and promptly sat down.

Of coarse Harry and Ron followed her example, and sat themselves as Crabbe and Goyle did Malfoy, to either side of her. Ron looked at her questioningly, "Well, there is a very clear view of the teachers area from here." She felt the need to explain her seating choice, and it was partially truthful anyways, what else was she supposed to say? That it would make her closer to Malfoy? Definitely not. Actually this rearranging of seats was something of a relief for her. At least she didn't have to figure out this entire thing on staying within twenty feet of Malfoy without it looking oddly suspicious.

Speaking about the tether, how was it the barrier past over them so easily? Something she would definitely have to research… Before anyone knew it the food apparated onto the tables, and everyone carried on like always. Hermione and Draco's groups were more silent than usual, and ate slower. When the majority of the room emptied, Draco became tired of picking at the food, and gulped down what was left of his pumpkin juice, stood and found a certain someone sitting directly behind him. He loomed over the girl a moment, watching her slowly eat her food in silence. He poked her shoulder. "Hey!" He had done that rather hard, and it smarted. Harry and Ron both turned to see the culprit and see Draco, Ron stood.

"Watch it Malfoy. What do you want?" Slowly, Harry also stood next to Ron, glaring at him for his intrusion.

Draco sneered in response to them. "I see your two bodyguards are in attendance, Granger."

"They are not my bodyguards, Malfoy." She also stood.

"Oh really…" He cast his gaze over them all, in amused disbelief.

"Must you always be an ass Malfoy?" Harry sighed, "What do you want?" Harry had gotten over the majority of his anger towards the blonde haired brute sometime ago. At about this moment two figures came up behind Draco and pulled him back.

"What are you doing?" Goyle whispered to him, his mouth full and lightly spitting morsels out as he did so. Draco scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Disgusting!" Ron also scrunched his face up at the glutton, not that he wasn't one, but that was just a bit wrong…

"Learn to chew your food first, BEFORE you speak will you? And what is with all of you? I happen to have a major project I must work on, and to my misfortune, it must be with…" he pointed at Hermione, "THAT. SO if you don't mind, I will take her now to go and work on this project."

"I'm still eating." He glared at her, walking up to her, uncomfortably so, staring deeply into her eyes. Suddenly she felt oddly weak in the knees… _He had such beautiful eyes…_ Oh Merlin, what was she thinking? Ron clenched his fist, readying himself to lunge at the blonde haired git, but Harry stayed him for the moment.

"Well, **_I _**desire to work on it right now, and I am heading there this moment. So I suggest YOU follow me. That is…" He smirked, "unless you have a desire to have interesting conversations with the floor." He turned, walking away from the 'perfect golden trio' and Hermione growled, grabbing a roll from her plate, shrugging towards her two friends, then glaring at Crabbe and Goyle as she passed them. They started to follow the two, as did Ron and Harry. Draco heard the crowd behind him and groaned. Could he do nothing without being followed constantly? Hermione was one thing, Crabbe and Goyle he was used to, though at the moment he was in no mood for them.

Then there was another set of footsteps. Most likely suspects- Potter and that damned Weasley. Potter he could tolerate, Weasley… No, definitely not, never, that damned creature needed to get away from him. He swiveled on his feet, not realizing how close his two 'friends' were to him at the time and they smacked into him, jarring his back enough to send a fresh wave of pain down it. Ouch. That damned well hurt, and here he was, starting to forget he was a little bit injured. SO much for trying… The wince he obtained as they bumped into him, faded into an annoyed sneer. "Watch where you're going. Speaking of going, that is what you SHOULD be doing. Don't you have a project to do yourselves?" Crabbe frowned, looking down slightly as he did so.

"Yes, but it's hard…" Draco rolled his eyes, as well as Hermione at this statement. They knew about the charm put on the assignment, and whatever it was they drew was in their combined average capabilities. Draco decided not to ask of what it might be, afraid about how simple the answer might be. Might as well let them have a _LITTLE_ self-esteem. He just simply smiled to him.

"Yes, I'm sure it is." Ron snickered at the statement as they all knew the pair was a bit dense. Draco ignored him. "Besides, I left you two some sweets mum sent me by my bed. I'm sure they are still there…" He trailed off as a lighted expression flashed across his companions' faces and watched them half-run towards the common room for Slytherin. He laughed lightly at them. It was sometimes easy to get rid of them.

"I can't stand it... Your friends are so completely dense." Harry blurted out before he could stop himself, and Draco turned to him, quieting his laughter and sneering.

"Perhaps. Though the friends you have are dirty." Harry's jaw clenched at this, as Ron stepped towards him.

"Take that back, Malfoy."

"No. It's true, she's a mudblood, and don't even get me started on you." Ron stepped closer, anger evident on his face.

"What about me, MALFOY? We might be poor, but at least my dad isn't a death eater." Draco's face blanched at the statement. It was true, as much as he hated and despised Ron, he was a bit jealous of him. He had a family, one that wouldn't torture him if he said or did something they didn't approve of. Anger seethed through him, how dare he bring his personal life into this? Before he could stop himself, he lunged at the red-haired weasel, pushing him to the ground as he did so. Ron stood and swung a fist at him, which Draco expertly maneuvered around with ease.

"Is that all you got Weasley?" Before he could turn around to face him, a deep blinding pain shot up through his back, and his knees buckled. Spots started to form in his eyes as the pain consumed him, and he screamed out. Damn it, he should be able to take this, if his father were here... He left that thought to it self as tears formed at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to shed them. No, he wouldn't give the vile red-haired Weasley the pleasure of knowing he caused a Malfoy to cry. Hermione gasped at the sight.

"Oh Merlin... Ron! What did you do?" He looked at her confused.

"I only pushed him. Not even all that hard either..." She groaned.

"That explains it then. Now we have to go and see Madame Pompfrey again."

"Don't even think it." Draco half hissed half ground out as he forced himself to stand, jaw clenched in concentration. He moved his head over to Weasley, giving him a death stare. He was going to kill the bastard... Oh yes.

"How are you going to concentrate on the project if you're in pain?" she paused, then quickly added, "It's not that I care otherwise." He turned to her then. Oh how he hated the little mudblood.

"I'm FINE."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Sure you are."

Harry tugged on her sleeve. "HERMIONE!"

She turned to him sharply. "What? He is an arrogant ass, and he knows it, I'm sure."

Yes, it was now certain, he was going to kill that pretty little mudblood, then Weasley... No wait. First immobulus Harry and Ron, make them watch him have, then kill their precious little mudblood, turn on Weasley, gut him slowly, indulging in the warmth of the blood over his hands, laughing at the way he screamed out in pain, making Potter watch as he did it. Then when his body finally went limp, he would turn on Harry, stick his tongue down his throat in a deep kiss. Just so that he could wear the 'I Kissed Harry' hat that was given to him on his birthday as a gag gift in the afterlife, and perhaps to give Harry nightmares for the rest of eternity. Then of coarse, he would turn his wand backwards, and then kill himself. Oh yes... a plan.

"Yes, I am, very proud of it too, thank you." Of coarse, he would never have enough nerve to actually do it though, but dreaming was always nice... Ron acted surprised.

"Oh Merlin! He admits it! Never thought I'd ever hear that in my lifetime."

Draco glared at him. "Do you have an intense desire to meet the afterlife, Weasley?" Ron snickered at him, he was much better at retorting to Draco after five years of dealing with the blonde. Naturally, they only egged each other on, and when they confronted each other, there was always a fight.

"Maybe, want to make something of it, Ferret boy?"

"Is that a challenge?"

Harry started to rub his temples as Hermione walked over to him. "Should we break them apart? At the rate they are going, one of them is going to end up dead, and Draco's practically crippled already, and I don't want to do my assignment alone..." She sighed, "What do you think?" She whispered to him.

Harry nodded. "Yah, you're probably right. Well, wish me luck. Hope I don't seem to mental for this..." He went over to Ron, firmly placed his hands on his irrational friends shoulders, and yanked backwards. After a startled yelp coming from Ron, Harry proceeded to push Ron down the hallway as Ron firmly objected to this, and oh how he could of SO whooped Malfoy this time. Harry looked back and called out to them. "Sorry about that, a bit temperamental this one."

Hermione waved back to them, knowing Ron would vent his frustration out at a game of wizard's chess with Harry later on. "Take care now! Don't worry, I will see you tomorrow in class!" She turned around to Draco, raising her eyebrows briefly, and then averting her eyes while sighing lightly. "Well, that was interesting." Draco stood there a moment a bit stunned and completely in shock. One moment he was about to be in an all out fight with the 'red haired wonder' Weasley, and the next moment the boy was being dragged off by none other than Mr. Perfect himself. Was it just him, or had Potter actually **_APOLOGIZED _** for Weasley's behavior? Wonders never cease… "Don't you ever go without picking a fight with him?"

"Well, he started it." Nothing like sounding childish to one of your most hated foes… He groaned.

"Actually, YOU did, you called us dirty, and he compared his father to yours." She paused, remembering how he had lost it. "It was true anyways." Draco turned away from her. It wasn't a subject he cared to think about, let alone discuss. It made him remember the past, and mostly the future. His jaw clenched at that thought. No, he was definitely NOT going to think on it.

"We are going to the library." He snapped at her as coldly as he could. The mudblood didn't know anything about him, not really, nor did she deserve to know.

She followed him silently, realizing she had struck a chord with him when she mentioned his father. As far as she knew he prided himself in being a Malfoy, always flaunting the fact around, besides, the way he always acted, one would only think he would be all to happy to become a deatheater himself after school. She shrugged any thoughts of this away. The boy was far too confusing. "Attempting to find answers on Elhys Capivah?"

He ignored her, though it was true. She had brought the subject back to his father, and he wasn't going to forgiver her for that. Their words set, ringing over and over within his head. 'At least my father isn't a deatheater' 'It was true anyways'. Yes, it was true; there was no denying that fact. He knew that his father was a deatheater, in fact he knew it all too well. Too bad he couldn't forget…

They continued to the library and both started to search on something about Elhys. They found nothing, absolutely nothing. After about two hours, there were promptly kicked out of the library, and they headed back to their room. It would figure, it wasn't going to be easy to find anything on her. Silently they entered the chamber as when Dorian was about to ask for the password, he received 'the look of death' from Draco. So he opened up the passage for them without a word. They fell into their own nightly routines, and went to bed without a word to each other, checking only once on their potion before doing so.

The next morning, Hermione woke with the sun. No wonder Malfoy woke so early the day before. She sat up and blushed. Malfoy was in this bed only one day before… It was still an uncomfortable thought; oddly exciting, but uncomfortable all the same. She looked over to him. He had changed some since she first had met him. Well, physically anyways. He was taller, his face had thinned some, and his platinum blonde hair had grown a little longer. She blushed even brighter as she noticed she had been staring at him. Oh dear. She looked away, knowing she would wake him up soon. He groaned, and threw his arm over his eyes, perhaps she wouldn't have to wake him after all. He sat up slowly, bracing himself on one arm, wincing slightly as he did, and looked over to her. He smirked.

"I suppose I am now obligated to go and see Madame Pompfrey then?" His back was throbbing, though he hoped she would give him some good news. Hopefully he would be able to fly soon, which brought his thoughts to Madame Hooch and whatever it was she wanted to have him test. Suddenly a throbbing sensation filled his head, almost numbing. Holy hell, coherent thoughts as soon as you woke up wasn't healthy. He brought a hand to his head as the feeling passed, then stood. "First dibs on the bath." He picked out his school clothing, and headed to the bathroom.

"Fine then, I will change in here." She also picked out her clothes. "Then we will go see Madame Pompfrey, then go to potions. That class shouldn't be a problem, I don't think, as I thing our seats are within twenty feet of the other." He shrugged.

"Do whatever you want." He disappeared into the bathroom, and she sighed. He was so strange, but then again… He **was** Malfoy. She quickly changed into her uniform and waited for him. After several minutes of waiting, she heard a loud crash.

"Awe, Hell!" She burst into the bathroom to see Malfoy shirtless, and with his hair down. It was strange, she never seen his hair without it slicked back before, even when he slept it never seemed to move. She smelled her perfume she had received over the summer from her parents. Then she noticed the bottle on the floor. He turned to her then, his face red. "**_PERFUME_!?**_" _ She blushed.

"Y-yes… I am a girl after all." He grabbed another bottle that looked identical to the oner her perfume was in.

"Then why don't you have a spray bottle like normal people do? Do you have any clue to what it is that I have just done?" She stared at him, obviously bewildered as to what it was he was getting at. "This bottle happens to contain the holding potion for my hair, just in case you were wondering." Oh dear… She just realized what must have happened. She started to laugh. "What, you thing this is **funny** Granger?" She quickly shook her head 'no'. "Liar." He quickly dumped the liquid in the bottle on his hair, and slicked it back like normal. Hermione walked around him as he did this, and cast a quick charm to clean up the spilt perfume, and salvage as much as she could. The sweet intoxicating smell soon dissipated… Well mostly anyways. Malfoy gave her a quick glare. "What WAS that stuff anyways?"

"Voulus l'importun no.11, my parents had it imported for my birthday. It happens to be my favorite.**" **He shrugged.

"Muggles are so strange." Then he left the bathroom. She stared after him, then followed, not really having a choice in the matter. "We should see Professor Lonsiel today too. There is something about this tether I wish to know."

"Fine. But right now, you're going to see Poppy." He rolled his eyes.

"Can't let me forget now can you?" She crossed her arms.

"Of coarse not, if your not healthy, then how are we supposed to finish the potion? And if we don't he might very well tether us for another three and a half weeks, until it is done. Personally, I don't wish for that to transpire."

"Fine, I'll go." He half slumped in good humor, and shuffled playfully out the door. Once again, Hermione laughed at him. Who knew he actually had a personality under that god-awful sneer of his?

He caught himself halfway to see Poppy. What was he doing? This was mudblood Granger he was doing this in front of! If she let out about his play tantrum, his reputation would be lost, not to mention Greg and Vinny would go off and tattle on him to his father. He could imagine the sour words coming from him…

-You irresponsible prat, must you insist on indignifying me in front of that mudblooded wench? Why must I put up with such an unworthy son?- In which would follow a small repelling spell where he would promptly hit the opposite wall.

Quickly, he hunched his shoulders and returned his sneer to his face, better not get TOO comfortable with the mudblood… When they arrived to the hospital wing, Hermione noticed that Malfoy returned to normal, and sighed quietly. It would be easier to get through the three weeks if he wasn't such an oaf ALL the time. Poppy was standing there, waiting for them impatiently.

"Well, it took you long enough, Mr. Malfoy. I will need to put more ointment on that immediately, lest you DESIRE to have even MORE injury to that back of yours." She waved her had to the nearest bed. "Take off your shirt, and lay on your stomach." She walked to the small bed table next the bed she had pointed him to. "Quickly now, I don't have all day." Draco mumbled, drawing in a sharp breath as a small sharp pain flowed down his back as he lifted his arms up over his head to remove his shirt. "I told you to be here first thing in the morning, but no, instead you…" She sniffed the air, and then gave him an odd look. "Instead you try on perfumes." He groaned at that one. Great, he was hoping his little 'accident' for hope of a better word, wouldn't have had a potent smell to it after he added his hair holding potion. Oh well, this would make out for an interesting day. "Hold still." He felt the liquid being poured on his back again, and heard Poppy mumbling something under her breath. It almost sounded like 'foolish boy' but then, he could have been wrong. He could hardly even here her after all.

"What did you say?" Hermione was curious as well. Poppy turned to her.

"This boy is hopeless." She enthusiastically threw her hands up into the air for the point of it.

"Why do you say that?" At this point, Draco decided to ignore them.

"I _don't _want to know how he did it, but he made it worse. I'm putting him on purely an academic schedule. Do you hear me Malfoy?" When he said nothing, she pushed very lightly on the top of his back, where the deep purple bluish looking bruises started. He squeaked loudly, then grunted.

"I'm listening." She smiled.

"Good. Now then, MR. MALFOY, you will NOT, and I repeat, NOT do anything besides your schoolwork. This means no quidditch, or anything remotely resembling the sport. This includes flying, running, stretches and otherwise." To this Draco moaned. "This isn't the end of the world, boy, it is only for a week, and you will get along fine. Also, if you feel so inclined to disobey your obligations to the school, please, PLEASE don't get yourself into any fights?"

"Don't you think I can behave myself for a week?"

"In a short answer to that… No, but I will leave you to prove me wrong, Mr. Malfoy." She turned to Hermione and smiled sweetly at her. She bent down to her ear and whispered; "I hear you're stuck with him for a while. I do hope you can keep him out of trouble." She turned back to him. "Sit up Mr. Malfoy, you're set to go. Come here every morning, which IS an order. Have a good day now." She left them to go attend another student, who accidentally turned himself green in his first year potions class by mixing a potion wrong. Draco noted this, Snape would be in a bad mood toady. Soon he returned his shirt to his back, and they left the infirmary to go to motions. Snape was oddly standing by the door, and was waiting for them.

"I see you have come early, like usual." He scanned them both over. "I'm NOT in the mood to answer your questions now on WHY I did what I did, but I assure you, I have my reasons. As such, I have talked to Professor Dumbledore, and it seems it is best if you go to Ms. Granger's classes for the unfortunate duration of this horrible predicament. Do try and get along…" With that, he gave a long glare at Malfoy, and turned into the classroom. Hermione turned to Draco.

"Well, that takes care of that." Draco just shrugged in response, and walked into the potions room. Just as they had suspected earlier, their seats in potions were within twenty feet of each other, and they were both relieved to this fact. Thanks to that, their class went smoothly, aside from Crabbe and Goyle giving Draco the 'third degree' that consisted of only about four or five questions, which were about where he had been, and why, and did he have any more of those sweet biscuits anyway? Lets just say Draco had a skill at subject changing. Oh yes, and don't forget the odd glances Draco received, as he was not looking as everyone in the class smelled the air. Was that perfume he was wearing? After class, and another assignment to research yet another potion, they went to the rest of their classes. None of these were truly eventful, except for the fact that everyone glared at Malfoy for being in the cases he shouldn't have been, and the fact he smelled rather nice. But then again that was Malfoy; so most everyone shrugged it off. TO be honest, he was getting rather sick of the odd looks and the sniffing sounds. By the time dinner hit, the rumors had been spreading throughout the school about him sharing the same classes as know it all Hermione Granger from Griffendor. (This is the point I would have done a five day fast forward... but I was threatened… sniffle) Draco was able to keep his own house happy about the rumors when they heard that Snape ordered the switch himself, yet the rest of the school kept talking of it; especially those from Griffendor.

"Is it true Hermione?" Harry whispered to her in her ear. She turned to him irritably.

"Is WHAT true Harry, I've been hearing more than one rumor going around." Yes, it was true… There were many rumors floating about the school, everything from Malfoy getting his schedule changed to up his curriculum to him dating her. It was getting to get a bit annoying really.

"Any of them?" This time it was Ron who pitched in. She turned to him.

"No, actually, most of them are NOT true. Yes, he is sharing my classes, not to everything else." Harry looked completely baffled, as well as Ron.

"Then... Why-" She cut Harry off.

"Honestly Harry, give me a chance to fill in the blanks. It has to deal with the assignment from Lonsiel-"

"But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Ron, please! Just let me finish!" He lightly nodded in agreement and she took a deep breath. They were going to flip out. "Just promise me, you will be quiet while I tell you… both of you… please?" Harry nodded.

"Of coarse Hermione." Ron just sat there with his mouth slightly lopsided as if he were yet debating this.

"Ron?"

"Why is it I'm always terrified at anything that you are about to say when you ask questions like that 'Mione?" Harry intervened before she was able to say anything.

"That's because it is usually followed by bad news Ron." Hermione glared at him as Ron smiled.

"Yes, that's right, now I remember…" Both Harry and Ron started to laugh as Hermione groaned. It would figure, them making a joke of all this. It just wasn't fair…

"Would you hush? I'm trying to tell you something important..." For some reason it made them laugh even harder. She put her hand to her temple and started to massage it gently. "Forget it, you're both hopeless." Harry nudged Ron, as he noticed the look on Hermione's face.

"Sorry Hermione. Harry gets a bit carried away sometimes." Harry gave him a disbelieving look.

"**_I _**get carried away?" Ron smiled, and then shrugged. They turned to face her. "All right, we're listening now. Go on." Harry smiled sweetly as he urged her on.

"Ok, fin then, I will tell you, but do you promise?" They nodded. "Good. Now then, as I have said before we have a rather difficult assignment. I really don't need to go on about what it is or anything but for the fact that it requires me to…" She took a deep breath, knowing the onslaught that would most likely come from the pair seated to either side of her. "It requires that I be tethered to…HIM." She brought her thumb toward her shoulder motioning to Malfoy who sat directly behind her. Ron's eyes got wide, and both their mouths nearly fell to the floor in surprise. Harry was the first to recover, and nodded slowly.

"I see, that **_would _**explain quite a bit. How… How long do you have to be stuck with him?" She groaned at the reminder of it. "That bad?"

"Worse. It will be three and a half weeks." Ron half jumped out of his seat.

"**THREE AND A HALF WHAT?!**" He growled out. To say the least, he was just a little bit perturbed by this little announcement. Harry reached over and pulled him back to his seat.

"Ron! You promised you wouldn't do that…" Ron turned to her sharply.

"I know Hermione… but… but that is just inhumane! How could something like this happen? I mean Professor Lonsiel isn't that much of an ass is he?" Hermione glared at him.

"I think he is worse than, per say, an ass, actually."

"How come you didn't object to it then?" Harry actually thought Lonsiel was an interesting character, and the class seemed like it might be fun.

"I did, we both did. Unfortunately he already had everything worked out with Dumbledore, and everybody else. Even quidditch was taken care of. By the end of it all, we really didn't have much of a choice really." Harry and Ron were dumbfounded, how could this be the simple assignment there were supposed to have?

"I thought this was supposed to be a simple assignment." Hermione nodded lightly.

"So did I, actually. SO much for presumptions I suppose. The potion itself I don't think will be overly hard, it's mostly I have to one, do it with Malfoy, and two, be within twenty feet of him or a whole three and a half weeks." She sighed, lowering her head at her own words.

"I swear, if he even thinks about hurting you…" She hushed him; Ron was a bit overprotective sometimes.

"Actually, I think I'd deserve it, after what I've done to him already."

"His back?" She smiled at Harry, happy that he was able to decipher her clues so easily most of the time.

"Yes, actually. It was my fault, and Ron didn't help any last night." Ron breathed an 'oh' and focused on finishing his food. Well, that wasn't so bad after all; nowhere hear the reactions she was expecting.

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence and as soon as they were done, Draco came over to the table. "Well, are you finished YET, Granger? In case you've forgotten, we have a potion to tend to. That is, unless you desire it to fail." She turned to him.

"Actually, I've finished." She stiffly pushed her plate from herself, and then stood. "Ron, Harry, have a food night, but I must go now." To this Ron and Harry said their good nights and Hermione let the way to their quarters. Once there, they checked the potion, which was still bubbling quite nicely and readied themselves for bed. She was about to go to bed, when she decided to voice something that had been bothering her. "I'm curious, do you know HOW it was that we traveled out of range of the tether? I mean, it seems rather odd and all, since we can't seem to break free of it any other way, so why was dinner any different?"

He turned to her, actually, he had been wondering the same thing, but wasn't about to ask her if she knew… that would mean confiding that he thought her smarter than he, and this he would never do. He sneered at her. "Do you **_expect _**me to know everything that you don't? Why don't you just look it up in the library? I refuse to go and see Professor Lonsiel, he's already ruined our lives enough as it is, and don't you agree?" She nodded dumbly, and he smiled. Ah, desired effect, to make her look like she didn't know everything. How very cute of her to… ack. He looked away from her. "Tomorrow we search, I'm not about to have a similar incident happen after we take the bloody potion." He walked to his bed, ignoring anything she might say. He placed himself on his sleeper and lie down for the night. "Goodnight, Granger." He mumbled before he could stop the words from leaving his lips. He clenched his jaw at this fact, and then forced himself to go to sleep.

She stood there staring at him a moment. He had told her goodnight, and it even sounded like he had meant it. How strange… Deciding not to think on it, she herself went to bed.

The next three days were uneventful. Draco had went each morning to see Madame Pompfrey who told him that he was starting to heal up nicely now, and due to the fact he was still forbidden to do anything 'strenuous' agreed to follow Hermione to the library and helped her search fort he reason why they head been separated that brief time; this taking on a more important role to them then they mystery of Elhys Capivah. Unfortunately, even after these three days, they had found nothing yet. The time passed so quickly that before they knew it, it was Sunday – the sixth day. There would only be one more day before they could drink the potion, and they knew right after dinner, the first part of it would begin. It would be time to take the side spell.

"Do you happen to know what all the side spell does exactly? It doesn't say anything in the texts of its complete effects, just that it is needed to connect our minds." Draco groaned, again with the questions.

"Will you stop already? All your questions annoy me, and I thought Crabbe and Goyle were bad…" She clenched her jaw. Did he just compare her to Crabbe and Goyle? "What I have already told you is mostly what I know about it. The only other thing I know of it, is that it is too dangerous to try on most potions, for the simple reason that it reacts rather unpredictably with everything. That is the reason you only hear of Mandrake Root in anything after it is fully matured." She stared at him.

"Too dangerous?" He smirked.

"Is the mudblood scared of a little potion?" She crossed her arms over her chest… Oh dear… Draco look away now…

"No of coarse I'm not. Besides, I'm sure that it is basically safe because it was given as an assignment." He raised an eyebrow and looked sardonically at her.

"You're kidding, you DO know your talking about Lonsiel don't you?" Her face faltered, and she then, to Draco's relief, returned her hands to her sides.

"You're right, I don't think he would care if it were dangerous." She started to gather her books. "Are you about ready, I would like to try and see if we can find the answer **_before _**we take the potion." He shrugged.

"Fine." He himself picked up a few books and followed Hermione to the library. Once there, they returned the stacks and went to the next section of books to continue with their research. A few more hours passed as well as stacks and stacks of books, and then finally, Hermione slammed her book down.

"I FOUND IT!" Draco looked up from the book he was thumbing through, and smiled. His eyes grew wide a moment as he realized what it was he was doing, and erased it from his face. He was enthusiastic for this, but he wasn't going to show it.

"Really, do tell." She rolled her eyes before continuing.

"It says here that the Mendella Tether has only one flaw. When a witch or wizard with descent magical ability, as well as knowledge of one of the tethered in question that they themselves do not know of, can pull them outside of the tether. The only reason this is, is because it holds the reactive ingredient of baby mandrake root, and it is a side effect for this potion." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Does Lonsiel have an obsession with that?" Draco groaned, and she nodded.

"It appears to be so…" She frowned. "I don't understand, it was Ron who pulled me out. What could he know about me, that I myself do not?" Draco shrugged indifference.

"How in the bloody hell should I know? He's YOUR friend, not mine." He smirked. "Maybe he's been snooping, he's a Weasley, can't put nothing past them." She glared at him.

"I happen to like the Weasley's." He rolled his eyes. "And I happen to think Malfoy's are more prone to snooping."

"Your damage." He paused a moment, comprehending more of what she said past the Weasley bit. "That's what you think is it? He stood up and half circled her, looking at her as he did it, and she followed him with her gaze when he did. "Just so you know, you don't have a damned clue about me." She smiled.

"Maybe not, but you DO snoop, I've seen you do it." He gave a half nod.

"Perhaps you've seen me, but I spy, not snoop; and trust me, there is a difference." She shrugged, and focused back at the task at hand.

"Fine, have it your way." He smirked, joining in the cleanup of the many books they had retrieved.

"I always do." She rolled her eyes at him once more, and went to return the books, she carrying half and he carrying the other. "

So how are we supposed to keep Weasley, or anyone else for that matter from pulling you, or even me, from the tether? It is rather… Unpleasant, to say the least." He shrugged.

"Turn and blast him?" She frowned, if there was no other way to do it, she might have to do just that if he off and tried to pull her from the tether again - even if it were unintentional. She sighed.

"I believe it is time for dinner. We should probably be going."

"Yes, lets." In which they went to the dining hall and ate a relatively silent dinner, the only talking being from Harry and Ron about the quidditch match the following Saturday. Draco, since that he had the luck of having to sit directly behind the two, ended up eavesdropping on their conversation. He picked at his food, not having much of an appetite. This Saturday's game would be Slytherin vs. Griffendor, and he had to bloody well miss it. This game could have been it, the game HE caught the snitch, not Potter. It was completely unfair, now he would never know.

He threw the fork down onto his plate, his appetite completely leaving him. He pushed the plate away, ignoring the questioning glances of his companions and sighed, putting his elbow on the table and resting his forehead in his palm. He wouldn't go to the game; he refused, and wouldn't even ask the results. If he weren't playing the game himself, it would only torment him later knowing what happened – especially if Slytherin won. What was it Madame Hooch had planned for him anyways? After brooding about this for a while, tuning out the world, he felt a warm, small hand on his shoulder, just briefly to grab his attention. He looked behind him to see Hermione. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, Granger?" She blushed.

"Well… I… You…" She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. She suddenly became nervous when every single Slytherin at the table he sat at turned and glared at her for disturbing them, even though it was only really disturbing Draco, really. "If you are done eating, we need to work on our assignment. I _would _start it without you, but you know I can't." He smirked, about to give a smart retort, when he seen the aggravated look in her eyes.

"I'm done." He stood, "Let's go, mudblood." They then headed back to their rooms. Once there, they quickly gathered the ingredients together for the mind spell. He noticed as she measured ingredients and crushed wings and other things without once looking at the paper. He frowned. "Do you **always **memorize EVERY aspect to the potions you are doing, or are you just over confident that you THINK you remember every last measurement to every ingredient that this potion needs?" She finished crushing her petrified bat wings, and looked up to glare at him.

"Actually, I can't remember how much Sky Bane sap needs to be put in. Other than that, I remember it ingredient per ingredient, thank you." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, don't we have too much time on our hands." She crossed her arms over her chest. Oh, how he loathed such an action. He was already at the end of his rope. It had only been a week, and he was already feeling the heady effects of abstinence. How in the hell was he supposed to last when the most gorgeous girl in the school kept inadvertently showing him hints of her figure underneath? He half growled as he tore his eyes away from her form. No, he couldn't. He mustn't think of such things; especially about HER. He had to concentrate on the potion. First, he had to take crushed petrified bat wings, and mix it with … Pineapple juice? Ah well… Strange, but that is what it had said…

"I never knew that you were so academically… well?" He looked up at her curiously then.

"Why do you say that? Never really looked at the list of academic high achievers?"

"Well, no… I just know I am at the top of it." He smirked.

"If you ever looked right below it, to 'number two' I think you would see none other but my own name there, Granger." She breathed an 'oh' and continued on with the side potion. When she go to the last ingredient she dawned a blank look, and frantically searched her things for the ingredient listing. Draco smirked, picking up the small bottle of Sky Bane Sap and delicately measured in two and tree quarter ounces of the thick syrup like liquid. When she found the paper and looked up, she had seen Malfoy carefully measuring in the substance in the same careful and loving precision as Snape had done numerous times. Her mind wondered briefly – were his hands so delicate in everything he did? She blushed suddenly and shook her head to erase the horrid thought from her mind. It was Malfoy… MALFOY! Ugh, how disturbing! Clearing her mind of her perverse thoughts, she walked over to him.

"I thought you said you didn't memorize the potion." He didn't look to her.

""I never said I didn't" She pursed her brows momentarily before joining him once again. She wasn't about to question him; she had better things to attend to - like the side potion. What were the effects of the side spell anyways? Well, she was just about to find out. "Now, we have to divide this into two…" She picked up a large cup and they divided the gross looking lumpy goop. Hermione grimaced at it.

"It looks rather… unhealthy." Draco smirked.

"Probably IS unhealthy. It is most likely Lonsiel's way of getting rid of the two smartest students in the school. Payback maybe." Hermione squinted her eyes at him. Was he joking, or did he actually mean that? Draco raised a brow. "What?"

"Nothing. Now we divide one of the half into two portions, and unfortunately, consume it."

"I know, rather disturbing, isn't it?" He sounded all too happy when he said this with a bit of a lopsided smile, and she herself smiled.

"Is perfect pureblood Malfoy afraid of a simple potion?" She blurted out. He sneered at her, grabbing the cup, once again splitting it into two and gulped it down, all while glaring at her. He suddenly turned a bit peeked, and choked a bit. It was utterly disgusting. Perhaps it tasted like paper machete mixed with a bit of bat guano, and that was about the best he could do to describe it. As much as the stuff wanted to come up, he forced it to stay down. He clenched his jaw, and smiled.

"Your turn now Granger." She pursed her lips and followed his example with similar reactions, except she choked more on it in the struggle to keep it down. After a while, she finally gained enough composure to speak.

"I think your right about that maybe killing us…" He forced himself to swallow a laugh at her comment, as he began to feel the effects of the potion start to kick in. His sight went fuzzy and his body suddenly felt like small pins were poking him everywhere. He felt an alien emotion to him, like a sense of a feeling that was not his own. It felt like… surprise, and bit of revulsion? He looked up to Hermione, and realized she must be experiencing the same thing. Wait… Revulsion? It couldn't be coming from her, what could she be revolted by? Him? The nerve of the girl…

In fact, she WAS feeling a bit revolted. And sick. And confused. She hadn't prepared herself for such an odd feeling. She could feel emotions… yet they were not her own, like they were tangible. Malfoy? Another wave of revulsion passed. His emotions were close to hers, except… annoyed. She looked up to him to see him glaring at her. "Well Granger, are we going to finish this, so we can put it in the potion, or do you actually LIKE being personally connected with myself so much as to be distracted with such things?" She scowled at him.

"I wasn't prepared for-"

"Obviously." He took the potion, and added a hair, then pushed it towards her. Never taking her eyes off of him, she also added in one of her own hairs. He took the potion then and poured it into the Diary's Milk Potion, which after a few seconds turned a nice light sea green color. Hermione smiled triumphantly.

"Why, it's turned out perfectly. Now all we have to do is wait a day." Draco gave the potion a stir, making sure it was right, then went to his 'bed' and leaned back into it.

"Yeah, it's definitely the beginning of the end." Of the time with her, of the potion and definitely, and most importantly, his sanity… Oddly, with every passing day, se seemed to look more and more beautiful to him. Perhaps it was because she was truly beautiful in both body and mind. Perhaps it was just because he hadn't been able to lay anyone in well over a week. Yes, his sanity would most likely be the first to go. Soon, he felt the barrier starting to close in, and jumped up just in time before it pushed him from where he was sitting to the floor. He watched her take her semi-revealing bedclothes… and unfortunately her usual robe… with her to the bathroom. He scowled, how dare she? "Learn to say something next time you try a stunt like that." Casually she looked over to him.

"Oh sorry, got your attention the? Honestly, you didn't seem to move when I told you the first THREE times I told you. By the way, I'm using the bathroom, you may want to move." She headed to the bathroom.

"What if I don't _want_ to move?" She swiveled ack to face him.

"Just in case you have forgotten, we happen to be a little bit stuck together. I am going to go and get changed now, that is, unless you want me to sleep in the nude and I imagi-…" She faltered as she seen a brief dreamy look pass across his features, then disappear again. "Imagine that would be… MOST dreadful…" Oh dear, he couldn't. Could he? No, of course not, why would he? After all, she WAS 'a disgusting, annoying filthy little mudblood' his words exact, actually. So why would he… **_desire _**her? Oh now, she felt herself blushing. She turned from him hopefully before he saw that her cheeks were hot. Thankfully he followed her as she entered the bathroom. Once there, she mentally berated herself. MALFOY. He was Malfoy, the main archenemy to her, and Ron Weasley. He didn't have a heart, was an ass, and most likely of all the sixth years to become a deatheater.

Yet… now he was beginning to seem a bit more… HUMAN to her than before. Perhaps that she had seen a bit of his humor, so seen him sleeping or that she now could feel what he felt… Or perhaps, it was the bruising and all those small and larger scars she had seen when Madame Pompfrey was helping him. That said, it brought her mind back to the scars. How had he received those anyways? Many of them looked like bit marks… Like those one would receive if bitten by a snake. But if that IS what they were, how did he get so MANY of them? She rubbed her temple as the many possibilities ran through her mind, Right now, she would give up on the thoughts, and some things were better not to ponder sometimes.

Draco sat near the bathroom; tense and attempting to figure out her reaction to the way he reacted to what she said. He was too late to hide the desire he felt with that statement and… she blushed? Was it just him, or didn't she hate him profusely? Not that he had made it easy for her to like him, and not that even if she did, he would like her in return. He sighed. Desired, yes. Liked, no, definitely not. She was the most annoying creature in the world, well maybe except for Dobby, but oh, how he would just love to feel her warmth beneath him, sighing as he moved on… Oh hell! Losing it, definitely losing it. He slumped down until his head was practically between his knees. How he was supposed to last for another two and a half weeks like this was beyond him. It would help if she stopped with her infernal teasing. Not that she did it purposefully, he hoped anyways, or that she would ever just 'let him have his way' with her. No emotions involved, no feeling, no care. It would be perfect. It would never happen.

He forced his thoughts to other things. The necklace. He reached to tug the chain and pull out the mysterious pendant that was given him. What kind of liquid was in it anyways? Yet even more mysteries to solve. As he thought about the necklace, something else popped into his mind. Quickly he foraged though the numerous pockets of his cloak and took out a small vile. Slowly a smile spread to his lips as an idea formed itself within his head. Oh yes, perfectly sinful. He quickly returned the vile to his pocket as she returned from the bathroom, unfortunately over dressed. Or should that be fortunately? He stopped her before she headed to her bed, and went into the bath himself. He was taking a shower- a cold one, preferably. After he was done, and his body back under more of a control, he went to bed for the night, as well as Hermione, who couldn't sleep well. In excitement, but also on the fact she couldn't keep her mind off things better not to ponder.

The next morning they went to see Madame Pompfrey once again, who quickly applied the stuff to Draco's back, then went about her own way, as she had a more serious and needy patient than he. TO spite their hatred for each other, they were both excited… privately and to themselves, sort of, about the potion they would take that night. It wasn't everyday one would have the chance to test out and make such a rare and complicated potion without interference, and as they both had an affinity for potions and the like, they naturally, if even subconsciously, were looking forward to finishing it.

Due to this excitement, the day drug on slowly, yet was a blur to them by the time they had reached dinner. They ate quickly, not finishing most of their food before they left the dining hall. They had gone most of the day without a word to one another, and it was when Draco entered their quarters he remembered what it was that he had planned. He reached his hand into his pocket then, thumbing the vile, and pondered how he could ask her to participate in his plan and actually have her agree to do it. "Granger, I have an idea." Well, that was a bloody good way to start, Draco you git. She turned to him quizzically.

"Yes, what is it?" He sighed. Well, it was now, or forever hold his tongue. He pulled out the vile.

"Well, I remembered I…'commandeered' this vile of twice over powder and I was thinking we might be able to use it on this potion." She pursed her brows and he sighed. He knew this would be hard.

"Why?"

"Because we have to endure each other for a full three and a half weeks, I thought maybe with this, that outside of the 'little secrets' we have to tell Lonsiel for us to get credit, will make it worth our while." She looked at him a moment and he expected her to vehemently go against it. School rules and all, as Granger had to be Ms. Perfect all the time. She nodded, finally, and smiled.

"You're right. Just make it something not totally ridiculous, please." He looked at her in shock at first, and then wiped the emotion from his face, though she could probably feel it thanks to that stupid side spell.

"Don't you make it something droll, like 'mo more saying mudblood' or the like. If you agree to that, then it is a deal. Got it?" She nodded and he smirked. "Good. Now then, shall we?" He quickly went to the cauldron that was brewing the potion and trickled in a few grains of the powder. "Ok, it will be twenty four hours before we can do this again. I suggest the more permanent ones first." She nodded, and he forced the grin he was about to don, into a larger smirk. He had thought about this all day, yet the less time she had to think on what she would do, the better. If she didn't think about it, the secret he would have to keep would most likely be one that wouldn't embarrass him at some point in the future.

Though, he couldn't have been more wrong about that assumption. In fact, she HAD been thinking about what she would have done had she the chance to use it in real life, and she had figured out a descent one. At least, she thought it was a good one. Draco took two small goblets and poured the light green substance into them. "Now then, you will need to clear your mind and think solely of what you wish the chosen to strike from their vocabulary. I trust you remember the small incantation." She nodded. "Good. Now then, take it." She took the goblet and winced at the goop. It looked even worse than the last part of the potion. She held it up to him.

"Cheers." He turned his lip up at her in annoyance, then concentrated on what it was that he desired her to keep her mouth shut on, then tipped back, just as she did. Oddly, the potion really didn't have a taste to it, and sent a numbing sensation deep within their throats. Draco and Hermione raised their wands and pointed them at each other. Simultaneously they recited the small incantation, "Verbatim infentato."

Fast as lightning the magic shot forth from their wands and wrapped around each other's throats and a bright flash of bright blue light, and then disappeared. Out of instinct, Hermione cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of the odd numbness that was there, and soon Draco found himself doing the same. He looked up to her then, and noticed that her face seemed to be a bit flushed from excitement. Against his will, his mind wondered if it would look that flushed if he were to… He looked away from her. His face fell at his errant thoughts, and backed away from her, as far as he could go without looking oddly suspicious. "Well, that took care of that." He dared himself a look towards her.

"Not quite yet, it twenty four hours, we need to set the next idea." She frowned.

"Almost forgot." He gasped dramatically.

"Never thought I would see the day that Perfect Mudblood Granger would forget something." She stepped closer to him, and then smiled.

"ALMOST. Don't worry, my reputation for knowing all the answers isn't quite over yet." He felt a lump growing larger within his throat at every step she took that made her closer to him. His desire for her rushed through him with lightning quick speed, and he knew what he should do. _Needed_ to do. Go take a shower. A cold one, and it would be helpful if were also long, very long, and perhaps torturous. Oh yes, that would be nice…

"Don't worry Granger, I'm sure you'll get stumped one of these days."

"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes in sarcasm. Sure, she didn't know plenty of things, she wasn't THAT conceited as to not admit such a thing to herself, though there was no way she would concede such a fact to Malfoy. She watched as he half playfully twitched his eyebrows at her and smiled. Realizing what it was she was doing, she turned away, knowing that she was again blushing in his presence.

Oh Merlin! What was she doing? Flirting with him? Him, of all the people that she could flirt with, why did she have to flirt with him? Then again, whom COULD she flirt with really? Not like she was interested in anyone else anyways… Then why flirt with Malfoy? Because he was bloody hot, that was why. And she had lived with him for a week. And she was loosing her mind. Besides, it was not all that long ago he seemed to find her suggestion of going without any clothes on a bit too appealing. Lately it seemed, she probably wouldn't mind HIM saying the same. Oh dear, she was staring to grow tense with all of this.

She needed a shower – no wait, a bath. A nice, long, hot bath and sooth all of her muscles, and perhaps her mind. She grabbed her things, as she was well within the distance, and then headed for the bathroom. "As it seems we are done for now, I am going to go and take a shower."

"What?! No, **_I _**was going to go and take a shower!" Oops, she forgot to say bath instead of shower. Oh well, he could wait, she was going to get her long hot bath, and he wasn't going to stop her.

"Then wait your turn, I claimed it first." He grumbled under his breath. Insufferable wench.

"Fine, I'll take one when you are done. Just don't take TOO long." She better not take too long… Otherwise he would burst. He knew he would.

"Good, see you in a few minutes." He watched her enter the room with a halfhearted smirk lying on his features. Soon, minutes passed, then a half hour, and torturously, an hour rolled by. By now, Draco's desire and need were so great he was almost shaking. He wasn't about to relieve himself of it either. Net here in the middle of the room, it would be indecent. Besides, his luck, she would come out while he was doing it, and then what would he say? 'Oh sorry, just relieving myself from the intense desire to screw you senseless'? No, that would NOT be a good thing.

As even more minutes trudged by, he took Neville's remembrall and tossed up in the air over, and over, and over again, for lack of anything better to do. After a while of this, and his frustrations that would not ebb, and his heady needs so high, he tossed it, breaking it loudly upon the wall. After a moment, the door to the bathroom =Finally= slammed open with a scantily clad Hermione peeping out.

"What happened?"

Now Draco was just too angry to notice her attire. "What in the bloody hell took you so long, MUDBLOOD? I have been waiting for well **_over an hour _**for you to be done!"

Her eyes grew wide. She hadn't meant to take THAT long… "Oh… I…" She bit her lip, and Draco felt the hot pressure starting to rise within his lower abdomen… Oh hell… "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to take so long. Just that I decided instead on a bath and well… I fell asleep. And-" She rattled on. Her voice. It was annoying. So feminine, and seductive. SO seductive, so damned innocently seductive… He couldn't hear her words anymore; they were melding in together to form a hypnotic sound that he didn't need to hear. He needed her to stop.

"Shut up!" His voice had become musky, though still angry and forceful. Unfortunately for him, it started her into a whole new droll that was most likely a new wave of apologies, though he couldn't really tell. He didn't really care. No, he NEEDED her to shut up if he valued anything of what was left of his sanity. He grabbed his wand and quickly pointed it at her; before she could realize what was happening he shouted, "IMMOBULUS!"

He had only witnessed the spell in his second year when she had used it on pixies, and it definitely shut them up, so why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say? He only hoped it worked on people as well… And worked it did. Her mouth was dropped open in mid word, and having it stuck that way ended in a sensuous display he had not intended. As he looked to her, he finally noticed that in her haste to see what was wrong outside the bathroom, she had forgotten to put on her robes, and could see her **_very _**feminine form underneath her off white silken nightgown.

He forced himself to back up to the end of the border. He needed to get away, and fast. Ignoring the commands he was screaming out within his mind, his eyes refused to leave Hermione's form, as if drunken from the very sight of her in her most revealing outfit she had ever worn. The animalistic desire for her rose within him like wildfire, and started to shake, violently, trying to hold onto whatever control he had left over his body. It hurt, intensely hurt, not to do anything… But he had to detain himself… He must…

The small thin strap to Hermione's silken nightgown fell softly off of her shoulder, and the desire rose undeniably from his abdomen. There was no stopping I now, and the fact she couldn't fight back, or say anything to help bring him to his senses, ensured that he would unfortunately be successful. The strap tumbled a bit further down her shoulder.

Damn it… He could feel the miniscule string of what was left of his self control break, and knew for certain there was no turning back when he felt his hand lift up to touch the silky smooth texture of the shoulder he strap had fallen from, though he didn't remember when he had come close enough to do such a thing. Oh Merlin… He wanted… He needed… He slowly pushed his body to her unmoving one, half groaning from the pain of the pressure in his abdomen, adding to the excitement of it all, feeling the waves of desire and need rush through him. As he felt himself fumbling with the bottom hem of her nightgown, he knew only one thing was for certain now.

For him, it was now truly, the beginning of the end.

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A/N: Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze… FINALLY! I AM DONE TYPING! Jumps for joy this thing is over twice as long as chapter 6, and is over 13,000 words long… oy

Well, there is chapter 7. Sorry that it took so long, but I hope it is long enough to make up for the time thing… And there it is, the beginning of the lemon… MWAHAHAHAHA! I promised you all I would get to the beginning of it in chapter 7, so darn it all, I did it.

Sorry if I have any typos in here, I proofread some, but the sucker is too bloody long to completely do it all right now... So for that I apologize. I love reviews, so please, please post them! :)


	8. A Secret Kept

A/N: Hehe… Um… Well… Sorry about the delay, I didn't even realize how long it has been since I put up my last chappie to this… hehe…hides

Well, anyways… Here is chapter 8, finally, I know, I know… Since I kinda sorta left you all at a very bad place… hehe. But hey, you guys never said FINISH the lemon, just that I had to start it, and not leave it midway… So that is exactly what I did. Evil, I know... But hey, it was a good hook to bring you back with… (I am hoping anyways…)

Well, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own it, stop saying that I am saying I do because I don't and I don't own anything of value except for my computer, which stalls all the time, so they can have it… um… but then I wouldn't be able to type… Which could be a problem, and (continues to rant)

**Chapter 8: A Secret Kept**

His mind screamed for him to stop, to cease all bodily functions, but his body was far too gone. He was too close; too close to her, too close to living out his fantasy to stop now. The fact he had been standing out there lusting for her, heady with desire for over an hour now, wasn't helping stay his hands from lifting the hem of her gown. Gently, he rubbed his hand upwards on her thigh, nearing her junction inch by tender inch. The agonizing torture of her silken skin beneath his hand became null when he reached the piece of clothing he was searching for, the one that held him from diving deep within the sweet velvety folds of her flesh. Quickly, hungrily, he reached up and pulled them off of her with much practiced ease, and looked to her face. Even immobilized he could see the fear in her eyes. Momentarily he hesitated as his heart fluttered. It was almost enough to make him stop. He had vowed so long ago he would never go low enough to take someone who feared him… It **_ALMOST _**stopped him. Unfortunately, he was already too far-gone to do so. He would just have to settle for regretting this later.

His mind too groggy to fully comprehend what he was doing, he felt himself slide between her legs as he felt the silky soft warmth of her thighs on his bare ones. When he lost his pants, he couldn't remember, nor did he care to. At that moment there was only one thing alone on his mind- impaling the female figure beneath him. How he had gotten her on her back… He wasn't sure of. Soon he felt the most sensitive part of him hit moist warmth, and he groaned in anticipation. There was no holding back now; he had to relieve the painful pressure she had caused him. She deserved this- it was her fault…

He lowered himself into her, barely even noticing the girl firmly squeeze her eyes shut in pain as he broke her virgin wall… Wait… He tensed a moment, shaking with need. His body violently urged him to continue, and he did only when he could no longer stand it. Though, he forced through enough of his willpower to be as gentle as he could possibly be with her. All though with every thrust it was becoming more and more difficult to do so. He groaned from the feeling of it, lowering his head to her shoulder as he continued his ministrations to the girl's unmoving form. Before long, he lost his thread of control, diving deeply within her body in desperation to release the sweet unforgiving pressure. He reached out with his hands, grabbing the sheets in one, and Hermione's hand with the other as the moment came for him. Suddenly he stiffened, tensing on top of her, shuddering as he gave a light hushed cry as he –finally- released his seed into her body; thrusting lightly as the extreme and immense waves of release flooded through his body. After several moments he collapsed, then rolled off of her, taking a deep breath, recovering from what he had just done.

He looked to her then… Tears… His eyes grew wide at this realization. _Hermione… I… Oh hell. _She still lay there under the immobulus spell, staring up wide-eyed, and crying. His mind started to uncloud remembering quite well what he had just done to her. He groaned as regret started to fill him, as well as another feeling- Satisfaction? Should he really be feeling such an emotion after such a thing? A thing he had vowed to himself to never do? He lay his head down onto the pillow of the bed… Where was he anyways? He looked closer to his immediate surroundings, and noticed he had taken them to Hermione's bed. Oh… Just great. Exhaustion hit him suddenly then, forcing him to close his eyes, and sleep.

The next day, Hermione woke feeling rather… odd, for lack of a better word. She stared at the ceiling a moment, afraid to look over. Afraid her all-too-realistic dream from last night was not in fact a dream after all. The dream… He had practically raped her… Practically. If it were not for the fact she was oddly attracted to him, though she would never act on such a strange thing. Besides, it had hurt… Not as much as she had thought losing her virginity would, but still… It wasn't enjoyable, yet it didn't seem so bad… She sighed, giving into her instinct, turning her head to the side, and coming face to sleeping face with one- Draco Malfoy. In an almost sudden panic, to spite the fact she had already half way faced the ultimate, and horrid truth (though oddly exciting) she hurriedly left the bed. As she stood there in disbelief for a moment, she noticed the dull ache where he had exquisitely released himself within her body, and felt the blush creep upon her cheeks unabashed. He groaned and she stepped backwards. She didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say, or what to even think. It was an alien feeling to her, one she hadn't felt since just before her first year at Hogwarts. She didn't like it. He had taken something precious to her, her virginity, the one thing she wished to keep until she gave it to the man she would wed on her wedding night. How could he? Or better yet, **_WHY _**did he?

His arm came up to his eyes as he started to wake, lightly stretching on the soft silken material of the bed… Wait… SILKEN? His eyes shot open in realization - Hermione's bed. It wasn't a dream after all… DAMN IT! He quickly sat up and looked quickly around the room for her. His target stood nearly the full twenty-foot away from him, blushing and looking… apprehensive? Though the spells effects of feeling her emotions was still there… It was only like a hint at the edge of his consciousness, instead of the strength and surety of it when it was first taken. His eyes grew wide. Oh shit! Shit, shit, shit! This was NOT supposed to be happening; he was **_never _**supposed to ever, ever do such a thing, not to HER. She crossed her arms protectively around herself, as if trying to shield herself from him. The regret started to set in. He had vowed never to lose control - he was better than that. Or at least he had thought he was. There just seemed to be something about thins girl that aroused him more than most… Her hair, the unconscious sway of her hips, the innocent way she spoke and acted… He frowned. Innocence… Well, she used to be… Before him. He had taken that away from her, her innocence. He groaned. He was starting to become something that he despised… He was becoming more like his father. Panic started to slowly set in; he had to do something, anything. "I…" He trailed off, turning his head from her. "I apologize…I…" He half whispered, and then trailed off again. He didn't know what to say. What COULD he say after something like that? He was probably the last person she ever wanted such intimate relations with, after all.

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock. He apologized? She hadn't expected that, she had expected… She really didn't know what it was she was expecting really- a look of pure disgust that he had actually allowed himself to indulge within her? It was possible, but for him to actually to apologize? No, she definitely didn't expect such a thing to happen. He was MALFOY after all… She frowned. Did he feel bad about what he had done to her? With him, you never could really tell. Trying to keep her hopes up, she decided on the latter, and suddenly felt she should respond somehow. She forced a smile to her lips, though he wasn't looking at her at the moment. "That's… not exactly how I pictured my first time." He turned his head back to her, and then sneer appeared upon his face.

"If you think that I actually care for you, you're **_very_** mistaken."

"I wasn't implying you did, nor I for you." His sneer turned into a light smile then.

"Good. Then there are no misconceptions about how we feel towards each other then, am I right?" She nodded slowly as he swiftly rose from her bed, and wrapped the sheet around the lower half of his body in liquid smooth motion, so that she didn't see much skin. She was still clad in her nightgown, after all, allowing her some modesty, and though he wasn't a modest person, being that he slept with… numerous members of the opposite sex… She was different, and suddenly felt uncharacteristically nervous. He irritably went to his trunk, and retrieved a pair of pants from it. "I'm going to the bath." She nodded wordlessly, and walked to a spot near the bathroom after she herself picked up her school clothes, and put a charm on the bed to cleanse it of their 'activities'. He frowned, entering the bathroom, and quickly changing into the clothing. Much to his relief the girl was fully clothed in the baggy uniform that was trademark of Hogwarts. He averted his eyes form her, heading towards the door. "We should leave."

"Yes." She followed him, and together, in an uncomfortable and awkward silence, went to go see Madame Pompfrey. For once, the wing was relatively empty – save for one in particular student who had previously turned herself green in potions class and was currently hiccupping bubbles. Obviously, yet another potion had gone awry.

"Looks like Snape's got himself another Neville." Hermione turned to glare at him.

"There is nothing wrong with Neville." Draco raised a brow, and she gave a half smile. He had a point there… "He is just a little… magically inept is all." He smiled his rare smile, knowing full well Hermione actually agreed with him, even if on the subconscious level, on her stupid little friend.

"Attempting to acquiesce an affinity for the politically correct are we Granger?" She smirked, mysteriously elated by his smile.

"Shall I be unhindered in inquiring why it is you nonchalantly avoid appearing to be scholarly, when you are to assent to be such a thing?" She perked her eyebrows in a quick gesture, and he glared at her. She had mocked him, how dare she! After a few moments of silent glaring, he was about to continue their battle of the minds, when Poppy entered the room.

"It can't be all THAT bad to come see me on these morning check-ups now can it?" Obviously she had noticed the glum look on his face, though it had nothing to do with being there. No, it had to deal with an annoying mudblooded witch by the name of Hermione Granger. What a trickster, that girl. He was starting to seriously think she was perhaps related to Medusa… Beautiful and admirable from a distance, yet deadly as sin if one comes close enough.

"No, it is not all that bad." He muttered, nearly under his breath. Madame Pompfrey motioned her hand in an irritated manner.

"All right then, Mr. Malfoy, you know the routine, off with it." He complied, following the routine, taking off his shirt, laying face down on the bed, and having Poppy check the progress on his back. "My, my, you seemed be healing rather nicely. Rather large boost from yesterday's check. What is it you've done yesterday that was different from the rest of the time? Your muscles aren't so knotted and tense…" He gave a half growl.

"What is the point of it?"

"Trust me Mr. Malfoy, you should keep doing what you have done yesterday, whatever that might be, it will help reduce the scarring that will occur in the tissues. Believe me, it is a good thing." Draco gave a 'humph' and Hermione turned a bright shade of red. She knew what it had been; at least what he had done to her last night had helped improve his back… Hold on…

"Scarring?" Poppy faced Hermione.

"Yes, actually. As I have said before, I really don't want to know HOW in the name of Merlin this happened, but he should thank the stars he is a wizard, and not a muggle. If he weren't and it were up to muggles…" She trailed off leaving the direness of the situation hang in the air for a moment, before continuing on. "If it were left to muggles, he would still be laying on his back, and the scarring would be so bad to the tissue he would hardly be able to walk after he was healed, a few **_MONTHS _**after the fact. You hear me there, Mr. Malfoy?" She called to him, as she had been inching over to Hermione as she was speaking. "The damage in you back is extensive, and it will never heal completely. There is only so much of a miracle I can produce for you." She paused, and picked up a bottle near Hermione, and then turned back to Draco. Once there, she once again poured the potion onto his back. "All right now, off with you. You only have one more day left before you can stop bothering to come here every morning, and then you can fly again. So, if you might excuse me, I have someone to attend to before this place cleans itself by bubbles." She gave a nod to Hermione. "Good day, Hermione, do have a good day." She then promptly trotted over to the poor sap who was blowing thousands of bubbles now, and crying frantically while doing so. Draco rolled his eyes.

"She should meet Longbottom, they would make a perfect pair." Hermione groaned.

"Right, with my luck, I would end up having to teach their offspring…" As much as Hermione adored Neville, she often became annoyed with his inability to understand many of the potions and spells she tutored him on. It was outright frustrating to her at times. She hadn't realized she had voiced that in particular thought until Draco started to laugh.

"I knew you agreed with me, mudblood." She glared at him a moment.

"I don't" Then she turned to leave. Keeping his smirk, he followed her in silence to their first class.

The day's classes they attended went by in silence, as they attempted to ignore each other throughout the day. After a very long day, they headed to dinner. Hermione readily greeted her friends not having spoken to them all day. She wanted something different to think about, to stop thinking about HIM. Draco Malfoy, the gorgeous boy who took her virginity with only a quiet apology. She was starting to become a bit finicky. Why wasn't this bothering her more? After all, he did… well… 'Held' her down, while taking full advantage of the situation… wasn't that considered rape? But then rape didn't include the fact that she somewhat desired him to do just that. It was a disturbing thought within itself, but the thing that disturbed her most, was that she had realized it was true. Not that she had ever expected him to do such a thing, in fact far from it. She had believed it would be more likely for him to kill her than to… do THAT with her. He hated her, that she was sure of, and believed that ever being intimate with the innate Slytherin would be a wonton fantasy, to be dreamed of secretly, and never come to actually pass. Yet it had happened, and when it did… I was nothing like she had imagined it to be. She had been horrified when he had put her under the immobulus, and even petrified when she had seen him shakily coming up to her, his eyes darkened… with what exactly? Desire? There was nothing she could do, nor say and oddly enough that seemed… exciting… That thought probably was what had horrified her the most out of the entire thing… The fact that she despised him mystified her.

Her thoughts presided unfortunately over Harry and Ron's talking, and realized she had once again turned her thoughts towards her strange dilemma. She put her hands to her head and started to rub gently, hypnotically, in an attempt to force back the headache that threatened to expose itself. It was when she did then Ron took more of a notice to her.

"'Mione, you all right?" She looked up and smiled, nodding lightly. "Did Malfoy do something to you?"

"You might say that…" She trailed off, not yet realizing she had spoken it aloud, her thoughts being on other things. Ron turned her semi-forcefully to face him.

"What did he do?! I swear… if he even thought about…" Ron ground his teeth together as rage seemed to take him over. Her eyes grew wide and attempted to think of something… Well, she COULD use part of the truth, but there was no way she telling anyone, especially Ron Weasley, about the extent of what happened the night before. All she would do was tell him that he had petrified her. Yet, that one would have to do…

"Well you see last night I fell asleep while taking a bath. After about an hour I think, I heard this rather loud crash. So I came out to see what it was." She paused, taking a deep breath; it seemed a tad bit difficult to say the words, how strange… "Anyways, I seen that he…" Her voice faltered momentarily, and cleared her throat. "He was… angry for me… being… in the bath… and…" She cleared her throat again, and took a drink of water. It was becoming increasingly difficult to say what it was she was going to say. "He…" Her voice completely stopped then, and her mouth halted completely as the tingling numb sensation started to spread through her entire mouth and finally landing unto her tongue. Confusion engulfed her… What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she tell them about…? Oh. Realization came to her then, the potion; it was forcing her to stay silent about what happened last night. Damn him, he must have planned this… Since she couldn't tell tm ANYTHING of what really happened, she had to come up with something… and quickly. "Crookshanks, he hissed at him and he… kicked him halfway across the room!" Yes, that was the perfect excuse… Not to mention believable. "He kicked Crookshanks!" Ron rolled his eyes.

"It's a stupid cat anyway, and here I was expecting something serious or something." It WAS something serious… Harry elbowed him, knowing full well how much Hermione loved her cat.

"RON!" Ron turned to him, and shrugged his shoulders questioningly. Harry rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

"Very. My cat happens to matter to me, very much you know." He gave her a half grin.

"I know." And everyone wondered why Ron and her didn't last long in the romantic category… It only lasted about a month over summer vacation, but at the end of it, Hermione called it quits. He seemed too much like a brother to her, and felt they were better off friends. She sighed, she had gone father with Draco in just one week, than with Ron in a month… Strange… She choked on her food. Had she just referred to Malfoy as if her were her boyfriend? That was a bit disturbing. It wasn't as if she cared for him… did she? Strangely, she wasn't that appalled by what he did. Shocked, yes definitely, but not appalled. Definitely confused though… What DID she feel about the entire thing?

"Hermione, you all right? You're looking a bit nostalgic." She smiled at Ron; happy he jarred her from her thoughts.

"Never better." Nothing like lying t y best friends but there was no avoiding it. What was she supposed to say? Sorry, a bit sore between the legs? Not very likely, thank you anyway. Ron seemed satisfied with this, and continued to be his gluttonous self, and practically poured his food down his throat. "Honestly Ron, you should slow down, you'll choke… or something…" She grimaced at him a moment in disgust.

"She is right you know…" Harry quickly added in. Ron stopped, and swallowed his food.

"What? I'm hungry." Harry held back a laugh and Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend. They always had a way to help her get her mind off of things.

Draco sat at his table behind her, tuning everything out and listening intently to the conversations going on behind him. He had been expecting her to run to her friends, or the first person of authority, excluding Snape of course, and tell them of the horrors he had performed to her body the night before. He felt shivers run up his spine at the sheer memory of it. He had once believed that if he had her once, he would stop lusting for her. How very wrong he had been. Se had felt much better around him that he ever though was possible, and to be completely honest, it was starting to freak him out. With as many girls he had been with and virginities had taken, he had never, **_NEVER _**felt anyone like that before, so perfectly formed to him. It almost felt as if she were made to sheath him. His one time experience with her was probably the single most pleasurable experience he had ever had to date. At the moment, the desire he had thought he felt towards her before the… 'Oops' that happened the night before, tripled. The thing was... was that she was perfectly still, no sounds, nothing. Almost like being with a living doll. Usually he didn't get off until they squirmed with need below him, yet all she had to do was lay there. It was just pure, and simply, completely confusing to him.

By the way, why HADN'T she told anyone anyways? Especially those two? And why in the hell would he kick her cat? If it ever hurt his owl though… Speaking of owls, he hadn't seen his families spotted owl in a few days now. His mother must be slacking, as he usually got her sweets every day and he needed them. Not for him of course, but as bribery for the idiots who acted as his bodyguards. Oh well, they served their purposes for him, and unfortunately for his father as well. He had found out the complete reason for their closeness to him after his first year, and he remembered the conversation he held with his father, as if it had just happened but a few measly days ago. Perhaps it was the fact he felt betrayed. He remembered it well… Too well, the day he was thrown in that pit and… He pushed his food away as he felt his stomach lurch at the memory, and received a quizzical look from Goyle. Draco sneered at him.

"Eat your food will you?" Goyle shrugged and continued to eat. Draco fidgeted with his silverware a moment, and then took matters into his own hands. He was definitely NOT in the mood to just sit there. Ignoring the fact that dinner was not done yet, he stood, turned and tapped Hermione on the shoulder. SH turned to him. "You done yet Granger?" She pushed her food away and gained herself an odd look from Ron and Harry.

"Yes actually, I believe I am." She stood, giving him a hard look. She had a thing or two to talk to him about. He had planned their 'rendezvous' the night before, and the fact she couldn't say anything of it proved that fact. The sooner she got him alone, the sooner she could yell at him. Plan A. Plan B, sit in their room and throw things at him till she felt better. Oddly, plan A seemed a bit more plausible. She sighed, and followed him as silently as she could, and walked about a foot behind him, and oddly, he didn't notice. That is, until he came to an abrupt stop once inside their room, and she walked into his back – hard. Seeing his back still wasn't fully healed, he groaned out from the small shots of white-hot pain that ebbed up his back – at least it wasn't as bad as it was a few short days ago.

"DAMN IT GRANGER!" He turned on her sharply, grabbed her by her shoulders and outright glared at her. "That bloody well hurt." He had inadvertently brought their bodies together when he turned her, and he felt the soft curves of her flesh mould into him, he pushed her away quickly, and then turned away from her again. She didn't allow this however, and circled him, placing herself in front of him then, crossing her arms. "What are you doing, Granger, move out of my way." She glared at him, refusing to move.

"You planned it, didn't you?"

A/N: Sorry about the extremely long wait on this chapter, time got away from me, then I got busy after I started to type this… Chapter 9 shouldn't take as long since it is already nearly finished so all I got to do really is type it up… D

Hope you liked the story, for those of you who have not yet read any of this, and again, sorry for the wait…


	9. Ron's Little Secret

A/N- Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but I have been working a lot on my schoolwork lately, and I have gotten caught up in my HG/SS story Acedemically Speaking. I will try and get more chapters up soon, but I will not gaurantee anything because of my Creative Writing class that I am taking at college right now. Ok, ok, done with my excuses, on with the story...

_**Chapter 9 – Ron's Little Secret**_

He pursed his brows together in confusion. "Planned WHAT?" Her eyes widened.

"Are you dense Malfoy?" He looked at her blankly, and she groaned. "What you did to me last night."

"Oh that…" He wasn't in the mood to discuss this, and turned from her.

"MALFOY!" Damn it… He turned to her.

"NO I didn't plan it, you stupid, STUPID mudblood, it wasn't meant to happen, it was NEVER meant to happen!" Why in the world was he confiding in her? She looked at him strangely then.

"You had to have planned it, otherwise, I would have been able to say something of it. Instead I had to an 'on the spot' excuse. , So, I am-"

"So THAT was what that cat thing was about…" Oops, exposed fact he was eavesdropping… Attempt charming smile; cover it up by making her knees wobble…

"You were eavesdropping!" Damn, it was Granger, wouldn't work.

"No, I was merely eating and overheard. You ARE directly behind me after all." She glared at him in disbelief, and then sighed. "Actually, I was wondering why you hadn't run off and told anyone of it yet. Not that you could run far that is." She pursed her brow in confusion and curiosity.

"If… if it **wasn't **expected… what **did **you wish for me to keep secret?" He turned from her.

"Oh look, it is about time we should set the next part of the potion…" He was avoiding the subject. Obviously it wasn't something he wished to talk about, but she wasn't going to let him get away with that.

"Yes, but first, what did you have me omit from my vocabulary if it **wasn't **that specifically, then what was it?" He clenched his jaw, annoying mudblood… Might as well tell her, after all there was no harm in it really… was there?

"You do know you're very bothersome, don't you?" He sighed when she opened her mouth to respond and held up his hand. She promptly shut it again. "I will tell you, hush." He put the hand he had held out for her to stop talking to his temple, and then finally let it fall loosely to his side. A small genuine smile crept upon his lips, and he went to the nearest chair, and then sat haphazardly into it. "Actually, I didn't think it would work at least not on anything like THAT, but hey, more to **my **advantage. I am only telling you this because you won't leave me alone, but I didn't want you to go squealing to anyone about my personal life, the things that I might do, or say. Obviously, the act that happened last night the spell recognized as something a bit personal." Hermione uncrossed her arms, and gave a half nod.

"I see then, well it **was **reasonable. Afterall, I did make mine to force you to never tell anyone of anything me, Harry or Ron does that looks a bit mischievious unless it is to one of us three. That is something I very much doubt ever actually happening, so,"

"That's unfair! Now how am I supposed to get them expelled?" She smiled.

"Simple really, you don't." He groaned.

"Just grand, mudblood, you've just taken away my favorite past-time." Past time? How could he look at it like a past time?

"How can you look at it as if it were all a game?" He sneered, his eyes sparkling with inner fancy. He started to wonder if she would crack open and go completely insane if he revealed to her the inner workings of himself. Probably, most people wouldn't be able to handle it… Hell, **_he _**almost couldn't handle it, but he was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's don't crack THAT easily.

"Simple, it IS a game, Granger, you don't **know **me. Don't even pretend to try. I don't care about 'perfect golden boy wonder' Potter, though I DO despise Weasley, something in which I don't want to get into right now. Off that subject…" She interrupted him before he could continue.

"What do you **MEAN **you don't care about Harry, you hate him, and everyone knows it." He rolled his eyes.

"Did I not just tell you already once or twice even before, **_YOU DON'T KNOW ME. _**You understand that phrase at all? It's not HIM I hate; it's everyone else's reaction to him that I hate. No matter WHAT it is he does, or says, or thinks, he can do no wrong. Why? Well, I will tell you why, he's bloody well Perfect Potter, the boy who does no wrong. While I on the other hand, and for reference sake, who is number two academically in the **ENTIRE **school, seeker and somewhat remarkable guy if I do say so myself, gets put onto the back burner, and continuously get in detentions and what not for the slightest thing I do wrong. You see?" Ok, so why was he telling her this?

"Why are you…?" He smiled, crossing his arms.

"Because I can. I can tell you ANYTHING about me, and you won't say anything about it to anyone else, no matter how much you want to."

"That doesn't explain why," He groaned.

"Because Granger, I have nobody else to tell anything to, think of it… Think of it this way, mudblood, I'm making you my living diary."

"But what about your friends… Crabbe and Goyle, surely you can-"

"They AREN'T my friends!" He stood and then loomed over her. "They never have been, nor will they ever be. I despise them, they are blubbering idiots, but I can't rid myself of them, so I make the best of it. Understand? I have no friends, and only one ally I can trust. You're not my first choice Granger, but you will have to do. Don't even attempt to think that this means I like you, because I don't. You're still a filthy little, disgusting mudblood." She set her jaw a moment, and then smiled. Two could play this game.

"Yes… Maybe it is true my parents are muggles, and maybe its true you despise me, let alone hate me, but… You still brought me to bed, and stolen my virginity, Malfoy, so it seems, you at least desire me…" She smiled as a frown crossed his face. Yes, it was true he hated her, but he found her desirable. A warm feeling started to grow within her stomach. He wanted her, not for her mind or friendship, but for the fact that he found her attractive. It was a good feeling, being wanted that way, and she wasn't about to give it up.

"Maybe… But…" He ran his hand through his hair, "But I… Didn't mean to do… what I did last night…" She turned from him.

"It's all right…" She spoke so softly he could barely hear her, but he did. His jaw dropped, she didn't just say what he thought she did, did she?

"What?" She took a deep breath, turned to him, and then gave him a hard stare.

"I said, I didn't mind." After a moment for it to sink into his head, he smiled.

"Ah, so you desire me as well… Is that what you are saying?"

"I wouldn't put it quite that way, it is more the desire to be desired… or something along those lines" He smirked.

"So, basically yes, then?" She gave him a slow nod. "Well, now that IS interesting…" He chuckled. "I might actually survive the rest of my time with you after all, Granger… Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow is the last day I need to see Poppy, so I will be able to pay Madame Hooch a visit. So, night mudblood, pleasant dreams." He had spoken the last with a sour note of sarcasm. Same old Malfoy… Mostly anyways. With that he quickly turned from her in his 'mischievous villain' way, and went to bed. She sighed, and then decided to follow suit, hid somewhat behind her bed because the bathroom was too far away, and changed. She headed to her bed and just before she pulled back the covers, she realized something.

"Oh dear…" She quickly stood, and half jogged over to Draco. She nudged him a few times to rise him, but all he did was groan. Damn him, either he already nodded off- unlikely- or he was attempting to ignore her- the more likely of the two scenarios. The later of course really started to push her buttons; it wasn't the day to mess with THIS Gryffindor. She smirked then, oh dear, staying with Malfoy was corrupting her mind, but… She took out her wand and then pointed it at him. She took a step back and then recited the following, "Aqueous Totallus" A small glow formed around Draco, and then the spell took its effect.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Draco jumped out of bed and spat water out of his mouth. After a moment of trying to figure out what in the bloody hell happened he turned and glared at Hermione. She smiled at him triumphantly, and he flicked his hands at her, spraying her with the access water.

"Eep!" She backed away from the flying water. He was drenched, completely and utterly dripping wet from head to toe.

"You wench! How dare you do such a thing. To me! DRACO MALFOY!"

"I do happen to know who you are, Mr. Malfoy, but I tried to get your attention in a… more…. Subtle way, but you didn't seem to notice me, so I took a more drastic measure." Her pursed his brows, holding his arms away from his wet and dripping body.

"Drastic? You call that drastic! Drastically overkill I would say!" She laughed then. "It's not that funny MUDBLOOD!" He shook his arms briefly. "Damn… Merlin!" She attempted to stifle her laughter but it didn't work very well. "Would you shut up already?" She cleared her throat.

"Sorry, but… You must admit, it IS… a bit funny." He rolled his eyes.

"You better be moving then, because I am drying off." He turned from her, and then quickly walked to the bathroom, and slammed the door. She sighed and then sat in the chair near the door. He had better hurry….

After a few minutes he finally emerged from the bathroom, dry except for his hair. "Well, finally, I was starting to wonder if you would come out in time." He raised an eyebrow to her.

"You know Granger, you've completely lost your mind." She smiled.

"Thank you, I do believe YOU had something to do with that. But anyways, to the subject… We nearly forgot that in a few minutes now, we have to set the next group of secrets." His eyes widened to this.

"Oops…" He regained his composure, and glared at her. "It was your fault, you DID change the subject matter." She sighed; of course he would NEVER take the blame for anything…

"Who cares whose fault it was, just think of what your going to have me keep a secret about."

"I already know." She crossed her arms.

"As do I" He neared.

"Then put a cork in it and get ready will you, I'm tiring of your endless babble." She glared at him, half setting her jaw.

"I **don't **babble! I just am filling the dull silence with meaningful words." He moved his brow up once more.

"You're babbling. Silence and I happen to be old acquaintances, and I happen to prefer its company to yours, any day." She smiled in spite of herself, taking a step closer as she dared. She wasn't quite sure what had gotten into her, but she was determined to match is sour wit.

"You didn't seem to mind my company last night…" She spoke deeply and quietly, leaving the statement hanging within the air. He snapped his jaw closed and forced himself to look away from her a moment.

"Keep that up, and you'll have yourself a repeat of that performance, MUDBLOOD." Quickly, he grabbed out his wand as he noticed the minute hand reached the moment they must do the second spell. Soon, Hermione did the same, and they pointed their wands at each other… "Now!"

"Verbatim Infentato" The results of the night before replayed just the same. After a moment of recovery, they looked at each other in curiosity. "Well, what is it that is stricken from my vocabulary?" He smirked.

"Anything to do with water. By the way Granger, never… and I mean NEVER do such a thing to me again. Trust me, you **_will _**regret such an action."

"I'm sure. By the way, you can't say anything that deals with muggles. Hope you don't mind. Now I'm going to bed, and I would suggest the same for you as well. You know… with your meeting with Madame Hooch and all."

"Whatever." But he proceeded to walk towards his bed and Hermione did the same.

"Pleasant dreams Malfoy." He grunted to that, and lay down. She sighed and climbed into bed herself, then blew out her candle.

Morning came far too quickly for them, and they both groggily dragged themselves out of bed, and into their morning routines. They did this in silence, only occasionally sending the other a glare before continuing on their way. They continued on like this until the first bouts of classes were finished and lunch was over with. It was time to go see Madame Hooch. Draco had been looking forward to this for his love of flying, and Hermione dreading it for her lack of. When Draco finished eating he came up behind her and then tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Mmmmu…" His eyes narrowed, it would figure that word would be included, as his mouth went mysteriously numb. He3 cleared his throat and then continued. "Granger, you done yet?" Harry smiled.

"Speechless Malfoy?" Ron laughed at his joke and Draco sneered at him.

"Mind your own business Potter." He spat at him, and then nudged Hermione again. "Well, GRANGER?" Since he couldn't say mudblood, he put as much acid into her name as he possibly could, and she turned to him slowly.

"Just a moment, I am nearly finished." He let out a guttural sigh.

"Fine then, but hurry up will you. I don't have all day." She rolled her eyes, and then turned back to her plate as he crossed his arms. Harry and Ron exchanged looks, snickering to themselves.

"Honestly you two, what do you find so funny?"

"Nothing 'Mione, why do you ask?" Ron then looked over to Harry who smiled, and then they both muffled their following laughter.

"There are times I just don't really even **want **to know what goes on inside of your heads. Honestly." Draco nudged her again.

"Will you just eat, and stop your infernal talking?" She turned back to him.

"Edgy are we?" He set his jaw and sneered at her with his sourest gaze.

"If you keep it up, I will go. And I REALLY don't care if you are sitting here trying to ear, or not." She set her jaw and turned to eat again. That is, until she heard receding footsteps. Sighing, she turned to move after him, but then felt a hand upon her shoulder.

"Wait… Let HIM fall, and make an ass of himself." Ron smiled at her… wait… RON! She started to feel the barrier close in. No… She couldn't… She couldn't let him make her fail this assignment. Quickly she jerked out of his grip.

"Ron! Don't!" Ron released her and donned a shocked expression, just as Draco stopped in his tracks and flipped around to face him.

"Weasley. Follow. Now." He waved his arm when he gave him an odd look. "Don't want a spectacle." Ron nodded dumbly and followed him, closely followed by Hermione and highly curious Harry. As soon as they were out of view of the other students, and a descent length away from them hearing them, they stopped.

"What do you want Malfoy? What is this about?" Ron asked the moment Draco stopped. He turned around to face Ron and glared at him.

"Simple, you stupid weasel." Ron half growled at this, "I'm **sure **that because you three are all and all inseparable, she has told you of our situation, hm?" Ron gave him a blank loon, and he rolled his eyes. Harry gave a small sigh.

"Yes, you're tethered. But what does THAT have to do with anything?" Hermione took this as an opportunity and added in to the conversation.

"Simple. There is a glitch in the spell. Though as much as I really wouldn't **mind **leaving the tether, it **does **hurt, and besides, I am not willing in the least to fail this assignment because of you." Ron scrunched his nose.

"What has that got to do with me?" Draco raised a brow to this and stepped towards him menacingly.

"What she is trying to say you insignificant weasel is that the glitch is you." The confused daze on Ron's face worsened.

"Wh… How, I mean…"

"Well…" Hermione started, "I'm not quite sure really, but there is a glitch in the tether, and because you pulled me out before, it seems to apply, though, I don't know how really. Well, I do… sort of any-" Draco interrupted.

"Will you get on with it already Granger?" She turned and glared at him.

"I'm getting there, you oaf, leave me be will you?" He rolled his eyes and she turned back to Ron. "As I was saying before my rather rude interruption, the fact that you pulled me out of the tether the other night, means that you know something about me that I myself do not know."

"But I don't know anything about you that you wouldn't know al…." He stopped short, his eyes growing wide in realization. "Oh… I nearly forgot that… I DO know something…" Draco raised an eyebrow as Harry and Hermione looked at him quizzically.

"What is it?" None of them had any idea what it was that he could have known. He just stood there stammering a moment with one of those 'deer in a headlight' looks plastered on his face.

"Well, I… She said… I mean… I can't really tell you 'Mione. Actually, I can't really tell any of you." He nervously ran a hand through his hair. "I never really expected any of it to be true, so it has been in the back of my mind and,"

"Ron, you're rambling. Will you just spit it out?" Harry crossed his arms and Ron stammered a bit more.

"I… I can't. It's complicated, if its true…" He turned to Hermione. "I can't really tell what it is I know, but I promise not to pull you out of the tether. I give you my word 'Mione. Just don't ask what it is I know… Because… I … I can't.." She put a finger to his lips to shush him, and at this moment Draco felt a strange surge within his stomach… Agh! He forced himself not to notice the sensation and rolled his eyes at their 'gooey' moment.

"It's ok Ron, I understand. Well, not really, but whatever it is must be important enough that you feel you mustn't tell me of it." Draco let out an exasperated sound from his annoyance with the trio.

"Damn, stop it with the sap will you? We have placed to be now, and Weasely…" He glared down the red headed boy in front of him. "Don't touch her… See you around." He smirked to him then quickly turned away from him, and Hermione quickly mouthed 'sorry' and then followed him.

"Um, see you 'Mione." Ron told her as they disappeared down the hallway.

Once they were a good distance away from all signs of civilization, he turned to her. "What in the bloody hell was he going on about? I don't believe him, the bloody git, what's he got to hide?"

"How would I know, but knowing Ron, it must be important to keep me from knowing. It is probably a Christmas gift or something. Who knows?"

"A gift? Him? He is a Weasley for Merlin's sake!" She let his comment drop and rolled her eyes as their conversation ended. After a few minutes, the excitement took hold and Draco couldn't hold his mouth shut any longer. It might not have been Crabbe and Goyle, but he was used to voicing these things to someone, so she would just have to do, for at the moment he really didn't care that the person following him was Granger. "I wonder what Hooch has planned for us. I mean… we are tethered." She groaned.

"Hopefully have us sit on the sidelines…" He stopped and looked at her oddly.

"Are you meaning to tell me you don't like to fly?" She nervously nodded and he burst out laughing. "It would figure that the mm…" He cleared his throat, "that you don't like to fly. Why, it is unworthy of you…. Or, rather, you are unworthy of that." She narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists.

"You are the most undignified, callous…." She paused, searching her mind for a word, "GIT I have ever had the displeasure of knowing." He turned away from her and started to walk away again.

"You DON'T know me." He tossed quietly over his shoulder before she noticed and started to follow him. She growled deep within her throat, he was impossible! Yet… oddly… She was starting to like him… It was just plain unorthodox. Perhaps it was the close quarters…. Hopefully…

"**_WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?_**" Draco whirled around and found himself with an armful of Hermione Granger.

"Throwing yourself at me now, are you Granger?" He smirked and quickly let her go as he had noticed his arms were around her in an embrace that had just happened. Hopefully she didn't notice… Hermione did though, and attempted to hide her blush from it, but after deciding it was fruitless she chose to act indifferently.

"No, I was only falling, but are you saying that you actually would like me to do such a thing?" He raised a brow and was about to respond when he was interrupted.

"Ahem." They both quickly turned to the voice, and both went noticeably pale when they seen Madame Pompfrey standing a bit down the hall glaring at them with her arms crossed. "I would hate to disturb you and your seemingly wonderful conversations, but you're not going anywhere until I look at that back of yours Mr. Malfoy, or have you forgotten completely that you were to see me this morning, hm?" He quickly shook his head, as well as Hermione. "Well, if that isn't believable." She sighed, tossed her hands up in the air in defeat, and then motioned for them to follow her. "Follow me then, so I can finish your exam. Come now." She quickly moved down the hall, and they followed.

A/N: Thank you for your reviews, they do make me feel like writing more… :) I am sorry this took so long.. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I will try and get the next chapter up fairly soon.


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